


The Caelis Connection

by bees_knees2



Series: Ad Lucem [1]
Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Attempt at Humor, Badass, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Gen, How Do I Tag, Kinda AU, Lemme know if I'm missing anything, Magic and Science, Morality, OC is just going along with everything, PoC, Protective Originals, Science because I love it, Self-Indulgent, Strong Language, The Originals Need a Friend, hella slow burn, nice OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 44
Words: 298,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bees_knees2/pseuds/bees_knees2
Summary: Annalise's had it pretty hard her whole life - it's safe to say she's just going with the flow at this point. At least she's well adjusted.She's also smart, just out of uni, and she's a bit of a magical anomaly- no one knows what she is. People are more than willing to kidnap her to try find out though. Yay.So what happens when the world-renowned Original Hybrid runs into her while she's chilling in captivity? Annalise just wants vodka and friends dammit - maybe even served with a side of freedom; but she doesn't see the Originals letting their new ace up their sleeve just leave any time soon. And honestly? Annalise really can't bring herself to care.Sue her, she gets attached way too quickly.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Caroline Forbes/Tyler Lockwood, Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore/Stefan Salvatore, Klaus Mikaelson & Original Female Character(s), Kol Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s), Past Qetsiyah/OC (Gaia), Rebekah Mikaelson & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Ad Lucem [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187834
Comments: 267
Kudos: 370
Collections: Amazing OFC fanfiction, Femfanon—All OFC Free Collection





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!! :D  
> I'm a sucker for an OC in fiction - so I decided to try my own hand in it. This is the first time I'm writing a fanfic, so constructive criticism appreciated! This is just a hobby of mine, and I am quite busy, but updates will be pretty regular (on Sundays) I promise.  
> Let me know if I'm missing anything or I've done anything wrong - I mean it when I say I have no clue about writing and posting fanfiction.  
> I really am hoping you enjoy where I take this little story, and that everyone enjoys my brain child.
> 
> Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries and Related TV spinoffs are not my property at all - only my OC is.  
> Italics are thoughts.  
> Not sure if this is a trigger warning - but OC (Annalise) is held captive at the start and she is kept sedated. Graphic description of needles, IV and captivity.  
> This is just the prologue though - this is a lot darker compared to the light, fluffy and sarcastic fic I have in mind. Hope you stick around for the next chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, just a quick note - all chapters up to Chapter 28 are currently under revision, this chapter has just been revised and updated.  
> Beta'd by - junieyes <3

Shivers suddenly wracked her small body, followed shortly by a wave of dull, stiffening pain.

The small woman gasped awake and slowly became more conscious of her surroundings. The same dark wooden walls that greeted her everyday were illuminated by a sliver of light that shined from the crack beneath the door. It was bright, not tinged with the artificial orange yellow glow of the lamp in the corridor beyond. 

Sunlight, then. A new dawn, a new  _ goddamn _ day. How sickening.

She sighed and tried to sit up on the hard, paper-thin bed. The movements of her arms were followed by the low rattle of the rusted chains attached to her wrist, which were just long enough to allow her to lever herself upright. 

Shutting her eyes tight and releasing a slow hiss of pain, she braced herself against the rusted metal bed frame behind her. The crook of her left arm stung – the IV line in it had been jostled in the night, and now her skin appeared red and swollen. Wrinkling her nose at the sickly-sweet smell of flowers and herbs that escaped from the junction where the IV met her skin, she squinted upwards at the blurry plastic IV bag of saline hanging from a metal pole above her bed. It contained the aforementioned herbs and colourful flowers, and it was nearly empty – Gloria was due to come by soon with a replacement. Her eyes started to strain, so she relaxed, dropping her head back tiredly against the wall. 

She needed her glasses.

Using the small amount of leeway the wrist chains allowed, she reached out to the small table at her right, grabbing her glasses that were placed almost thoughtfully  _ just  _ at arm’s length, and managed to nudge them onto her nose using her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if it was better or worse seeing her prison clearly instead of in blurry smudges.

Groaning, she stretched as far as her cuffs would allow, sighing when her stiff joints cracked satisfyingly. Settling backwards once more, she thankfully drew her knees to her chest to get more comfortable. Since she’d been nice the day before, Gloria had foregone the effort to tie her legs together; it had made for a more comfortable sleep.

Of course, it would be infinitely better if she  _ wasn’t _ imprisoned against her will and kept subdued and unconscious with witch herbs...but turns out beggars can’t be choosers. Or something like that. 

Her head hurt. 

It could honestly be due to a number of different reasons. She was parched and sweaty, which was a horrible combination to begin with, and the constant IV drugging her with heavy, sleep-inducing herbs certainly didn’t help.

Sure, she was a prisoner, but what did a girl have to do to get a little common decency around here? 

Lifting an arm lethargically, she clanged her heavy metal wrist cuff against the bed frame with as much strength as she could muster. It took a couple minutes before she heard footsteps coming in her direction. 

The door creaked open.

The sunlight that flooded in was horrifyingly bright and had her wincing back until Gloria kicked the door shut again behind her. Skillfully using her elbow to flick the light switch next to the door, the once-mentor turned kidnapper expertly balanced a large tray in her hands. There was a bowl -  _ ugh, probably that watery shit again - _ a large glass of water, and another packet of IV solution infused with bright flowers and leaves in it.

“Good morning sunshine~, up and at ‘em.”

Gloria's cheerful tone contradicted her austere expression. As she set the tray near the foot of the bed, she curled further in on herself to avoid the older witch’s clinical stare. She met it with a sullen glare, which had Gloria grinning amusedly.

“Don’t  _ you  _ look positively radiant today hun?”

“Bite me.” Her scathing reply had Gloria chuckling. 

“You haven’t lost your fire then. Well, wit does make for a more amusing captive.” As Gloria set about busily changing out the old IV bag and fixing in the new full one, she winced wordlessly behind flattened lips. The witch wasn’t gentle about securing the loose needle; and attaching new tubing once more. Her compliance wasn’t defeat, she was just biding her time. 

It had  _ only _ taken her the better half of the year to figure that out - well, if her calculations were correct - which most likely they were not. She just couldn’t stand to spend another minute in this small dank, almost  _ closet  _ in the back of her speakeasy. She was angry at her situation, angry at herself for being so  _ fucking  _ gullible. She was angry at Gloria, that seemed the healthiest option to channel all her frustration towards. 

A spoon nudged her lips. “You know how much you’re helping me girly, you need to keep your strength up.” Gloria had collected the tray and sat on the bed closer to her side. She started feeding her the watery soup –  she knew hunger betrayed her collected composure by how eagerly she swallowed each spoonful, no matter how much she tried to keep her expression blank. Gloria’s sharp eyes caught it, and she smirked knowingly. 

“Annalise, and I do hope you know that I say this with all my heart dear,” Gloria offered her another spoonful. “I might be finally able to let you go soon.”

At this statement, she paused and narrowed her eyes waiting for the catch. This couldn’t be right. Gloria was an opportunistic  _ bitch.  _ Nevertheless, she couldn’t help the small amount of hope flaring to life inside her as her captor continued.

“I think I’ve found another power source I could tap into. It’s the talisman of a powerful witch; the  _ Original _ Witch. You must’ve heard of her, right?”

The spoon made a return, and Annalise sipped at it, still listening closely. “If I can get my hands on that necklace and tap into that power, I won’t need you anymore. Think of how  _ powerful _ I’d be. I think I’ll have my hands on it in the next few hours or so. Oh, very soon sweetheart don’t you worry.”

The soup was finished. Gloria held the glass of water with a straw in front of her face and watched her sip. She waited until Annalise gestured with a quick nod that she was done.

“Klaus should be over here with the necklace and his sister this afternoon, maybe even along with Stefan. I can just tell he knows more than he lets on.”

Gloria turned and set the tray with the empty bowl and glass down near the foot of the bed again. She turned back around to check on the cuffs.  _ Klaus?!...The infamous hybrid Klaus? _

The skin around the cuffs had darkened, the constant bruises had overlapped and just looked very painful. It  _ was  _ very painful - it was dull, but throbbing, and constant; Annalise wished that the herbs hadn’t suppressed her fast healing.

“I’ll get you some salve for that hun,” Gloria also checked the etchings on both the cuffs – the very same ones she drew her power from. Old fingers traced along the carvings in the cold metal, humming from the pure amount of power being drained from her - Gloria’s hesitation brought a nervous frown to Annalise’s face.

“But then again dearie, you’ve been so cooperative. I might keep you on for a while yet, no reason to let go of something powerful just because I’m finding a new source, don't you agree? Plus, you’ll probably tell everyone what I did. You understand, don’t you?”

Halfway through her statement Annalise caught on to Gloria’s train of thought and started struggling with anger in her narrowed eyes. The chains holding her hands were pulled taut as she reached viciously for Gloria. One of her feet managed to catch Gloria in the hip making her hiss in pain.

Annalise glared at her and struggled harder as Gloria reached under the bed for rope and began tying her flailing feet as best she could to the bottom bed posts – “This is what happens to little girls who don’t listen – you get no dinner tonight.”

She stopped moving, clearly spent “You  _ bitch.”  _ Her voice slurred.

The herbs were definitely kicking in as her eyes drooped lower and lower. Watching the last pieces of the girl's consciousness leave, Gloria smirked, collected the tray, flicked the light off and locked the door tightly behind her. 

-

When she came to again, a pained groan escaped her as she set about getting out of the awkward position her arms and legs were stretched and tangled in.

She’d fallen asleep with her glasses still on, evidenced by the amount of pain that was on her face, but it was a small mercy the frame wasn’t bent out of shape and still rested somewhat balanced on her sore nose.

Gloria’s voice and another man’s – muffled, carried through the walls. She paused and tried to make out what they were saying. There were some words she was able to catch.

“ _ Secret…. necklace...half-breed…Klaus.”  _ And then there was a sudden thud when the man’s voice was suddenly silenced. Oh god what is Gloria doing now…

After what felt like fifteen minutes, she heard the man scream in pain repeatedly and winced in empathy. Gloria was really doing a number on him. The chilling screams made her close her eyes tight and wish she could curl up in a ball, but her legs were still stretched out and tied to the lower bed posts.

The man screamed again and Annalise felt her resolve gather. Annalise wasn’t going to sit by and listen to someone get tortured any longer at Gloria’s hands.

Her ankles twinged in pain as she carefully tugged at the ropes at different angles, she twisted her right foot slowly and there it was! The rope gave way a small amount and she manoeuvred her heel out of the loop slowly. Then using her now free right foot, she loosened the ropes around her left and slid her left foot out with more difficulty. It hurt – the rope was tighter. Her feet were now free but what next? Another scream echoed down the hall. How was no one else hearing this?

Her limbs and her mind were still too weak from Gloria’s concoction, so the next step logically was to get her IV out. This...might require a bit more flexibility than she might have. 

She bent her right foot upwards to slowly reach the crook of her left elbow where the IV sat, securely taped. It took a few tries, but her toes were able to shimmy the tape loose and nudge the IV out. 

Her nose scrunched up in clear distaste but relaxed when the needle was fully out of her arm.  _ Shit okay, what next?  _ Staring down at her wrists enclosed in magic cuffs helplessly, she sagged. How was she gonna get them free?

Despite the age of the metal cuffs being obvious, they weren’t giving way easily – they were reinforced with Gloria’s magic and the weird etchings.

She paused. A chill passed through her – she hadn’t heard the man's screams for the last five minutes while she was getting her IV free.

Her breath stuttered, if Gloria came and found her legs free and her IV out she would introduce her into a new world of hurt. One that the man outside had found himself familiar with. The silence spurred her into panicked action; she was yanking at the cuffs now in desperation–

THUD.

That was the same sound as the one before – one she recognised as a body falling on to the hard timber boards outside her small room. She stopped and held her breath. Maybe she could catch Gloria by surprise, use her legs, do  _ anything… _

Her thoughts halted as the cuffs around her wrists popped open with an audible click that seemed deafening in her quiet panic attack.

Removing her injured wrists gingerly, she curled up in a ball on the bed and cradled her hands against her chest, trying to think through what just happened.

The magic keeping the cuffs closed - the magic linking the cuffs to Gloria – it was gone. Gloria was gone. She felt an overwhelming wave of relief crash into her and she let loose all the hurt and tears she kept in to maintain a strong façade.

She was free. Sobs wracked her small frame but a smile stayed on her features. She had survived. She had made it, but oh, was she tired. The witchy muting herbs were still in her system, 

_ It’s okay, I can rest now. No one knows I’m here.  _ Annalise curled up on the bed, pulling her sore wrists into her chest. _ I’m safe, and I’ll figure out how to get past the locked door when I wake up. Just a small nap. _

She shoved her glasses off, and she was asleep. 

If Annalise felt a draught whisper in from under the door, while she fell into the first peaceful sleep she’d had in a long time, she would’ve never guessed it was caused by a gust of wind left behind by a man and woman, blurring away at the speed of light with her captor’s dead body balanced on the former’s shoulder. 

-

It couldn’t have been half an hour later when Annalise woke again, this time, feeling the most refreshed she had felt in the last eight months.

The herbal concoction must be mostly out of her system now, her magic was great at cycling out harmful things and kick starting her healing, so right now only a residual headache remained, like a killer hangover.

Blindly she felt across the bed until her hand latched onto a familiar frame and settled her glasses on her nose. She grunted and wobbled slowly to her underused feet holding onto the bed for support.

Letting the bedpost go carefully, stood up straighter and shook out the residual stiffness in her limbs. A deep inhale and a silent ‘ _ you got this!’  _ later, she made her way to the door on unsteady feet and laid a trembling hand on the knob. She went to turn it, but the doorknob refused to budge.

Of fucking course it’s locked. Just her luck. 

Her head shot up at the sound of a distant door being opened and shut. Annalise pressed her ear to the wooden door. 

“Hello?” A distinctly British voice echoed through the silent club. “It’s Klaus, I’ve come to check on your progress Gloria!”

She had heard enough about the mythical Klaus to know that he was temperamental, not above using people for his own gain, and generally a psychopath all of the time, but there was no way she was strong enough to break through this heavy wooden door, definitely not anytime soon, if she was being honest with herself. 

Annalise had a choice: she could either let him know she was here, or she could figure a way out on her own. She was tired and  _ so  _ hungry, and she just wanted out.  _ Fuck it.  _

She made up her mind and started banging on the heavy door, worsening her bruised and aching wrists.

“Please! I’m in here, I’m trapped. Please help, please!” Her yelling strained her underused voice, but she didn’t let up. “Hello? Help, please, I’m in here!”

She heard footsteps coming her way and pause outside her door. She exhaled slowly and stepped back out of the way just in time before the door was kicked in, the lock splintering beneath his foot.

She steeled herself, straightened her spine, and got ready to face her next trial. She  _ will  _ survive.


	2. Disturbing Behaviour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer from chapter one still applies. As always - swearing in this chapter, along with a bit of Canon - typical violence. Hope you enjoy!  
> Update: Revised

**_'_ ** _Thoughts_ **_'_ **

**Klaus’ POV**

Klaus entered Gloria’s bar with caution – the lights in the club were all turned off which immediately raised warning flags, but more obviously, the empty space at the centre of the speakeasy in front of the stage and bar was occupied by a large wooden table with large wooden bowls of blood of blood on either side.

_Those bowls smell of Stefan’s blood - he was here._

Countless candles surrounded the large wooden table in an almost ritualistic manner; the small rivulets of cooled and hardened wax added an eerie element to the once bright and beautiful small space. Their unlit wicks were black and ashy, but the light smell of scented smoke also lingered in the air – they had been recently burning, probably for use in a spell.

Inhaling another more careful breath he could also smell trace amounts of vervain in the air.

Whatever had happened here he needed to get an explanation out of Stefan, fast.

‘ _Wait,’_ he paused near the bar, _‘what was that?_ ’

He heard a faint heartbeat, mortal – maybe Gloria was alive after all. Maybe Stefan had escaped her, and she had gone into the back of her bar to lick her wounds in peace, large wounds – judging from the amount of her blood he could also smell spilled across the timber floor.

“Hello? It’s Klaus, I’ve come to check on your progress Gloria!”

There was an unsure pause before he heard loud thumping coming from a room down the hallway.

“Please! I’m in here, I’m trapped. Please help, please! Hello? Help, please help me, I’m in here!”

The voice was distinctly female but young, not Gloria then. 

Whoever she was, maybe she was useful - maybe she witnessed what happened here. He needed answers fast, or he was going to start snapping necks. His fingers ticked angrily as he walked down the small dim hallway before arriving at the door that the shouts came from. It was quite nondescript – the lock seemed rust-free and well-used though; was this a prisoner?

Klaus kicked at the door lightly, not using all his power of course– he didn’t want to send the heavy door flying into whoever it was in there in case they didn’t have the intelligence to step out of the way. The door gave way on his third gentle kick and his sensitive nose immediately scrunched at the sickly-sweet smell of herbs wafting from the room. Klaus narrowed his eyes to squint into the darkness, his superior vision could make out a small shadow shifting to the side of the doorway.

There was a sudden click and the room was suddenly illuminated by light, his eyes flicked to the right and watched a small hand leave the light switch. The hand belonged to a girl? Small woman? Whichever she was, she looked gaunt and thin. Despite her skin being a creamy light brown, she looked paler than she was meant to be, her dark hair hung in a thick curtain to her waist, dull.

Klaus was immediately able to tell that she had been held captive for quite some time. There were dark bruises around her wrists and ankles, and her clothes – a pair of ripped jeans and a tee - looked more worn than fashionable.

Her eyes however were strong behind her large round glasses with a thin frame - as was the way she held herself. She stood tall and carried herself as if she was taller than her height of around five feet. It was slightly amusing how she stared at him with strength and defiance in her eyes instead of being scared of him, but her discomfort was apparent in her tight awkward smile. His lip quirked up. This was going to be interesting.

**Annalise’s POV**

The man who stepped through the door was nothing like what Annalise had imagined the Klaus to look like. She was expecting someone with bloodthirsty and manic eyes, maybe a deep scar gouged through most of his face. What she saw, however, was a tall man - at least according to her short height - with curly blond hair, bright green eyes and a dimpled smirk adorning his face, sat comfortably amongst a scruffy beard. He looked like an artistic hipster college student in his mid-twenties. She wasn't all that impressed.

“Who might you be love?” His British voice had an amused drawl in it, but his eyes were impatient. ‘ _Quickly then, I have to prove I’m worth something.'_

“Gloria kidnapped me a while ago, she’s been channeling my magic through these weird cuffs and using it to help her stay powerful, and probably stay younger.” She rushed out, almost tripping over her words. “Erm, anyways. Thanks for the assist, I think I’ll be on my way then.”

Annalise flashed him another uneasy smile and moved to duck out under him. Her bruised wrist stung in an equally bruising grip as he held it before she could even blink. ‘ _It was worth a try.’_

“Do you know what seems to have happened outside? Where Gloria might’ve gone?” He wasn’t amused anymore; he was looking for answers. Good thing that she had no reason to keep them from him. An honest Annalise was an alive Annalise.

“I don’t know where Gloria is, but I do know she’s probably dead.”

His grip tightened, but she hid a wince and kept going – he needed more detail to trust her.

“The magic cuffs that leeched my magic from me, her magic kept them closed. The only way they would release me was if her hold over them broke. I don’t think she released me on purpose seeing as the last thing she told me was that she’ll keep me as her personal battery, along with the necklac-”

In the next instant, she was gasping for air; two large hands had circled her neck in a split second, and she was choking. 

“ _What_ do you know about the necklace, _tell me.”_ The low dangerous hiss was frankly terrifying.

The hybrid’s hands tightened around her throat, she was losing air fast and she couldn’t form a word. Her hands which had reflexively clawed at his clenched around her neck were now tapping forcefully on his forearm. He released his hold a bit and watched her take in a croaking gasp of air. 

“I would have told you if you’d just listened, jeez,” he made a move to tighten his hold on her neck again, but she held her hands up in defeat.

“Okay, okay, she told me, I think it was yesterday, disclaimer though, I’m not sure of the accuracy of my thoughts right now because I was sorta drugged the entire time. Anyways, she told me that it was a talisman of the Original Witch, that you and two other people - I can’t remember their names – would bring it to her, and that she’d use it to get even more powerful.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and released her neck. She coughed a few times, but she didn’t let herself sink to the floor like she wanted to. She stayed up. Fake it till you make it had been her mantra in college, and it hadn’t exactly failed her back then.

“Look, I literally have no reason to lie to you. I’ve been held captive for nearly a year now I think, and all I want is a warm meal, a warm bath and a warm bed. If you have no more questions, please just let me go.”

She hoped her eyes were as large and puppy-like as she pleaded towards the end of her sentence. She was sincere, but she needed to show him that too. Annalise had heard horror stories of the legendary Klaus being able to sniff out the slightest whiff of deceit – she had no intention of being another one of his victims.

His eyes were still narrowed but the small smirk was back, playing on his lips, like he knew something she didn’t. It irked her but she didn’t comment because her train of thought was disturbed to the extreme when he moved to the side, clearing the doorway into the hallway beyond.

She didn’t waste any time in crossing the short distance to the door and walking fast into the opening of the club. His footsteps followed closely behind her – she was under no false hopes that she could outrun him, especially not in her weakened state.

Since she couldn’t run from her problems, she decided to do the next best thing. Annalise immediately hastened over to the bar when it was in her sight, instead of heading straight out the front door like a normal person. She spared a quick glance at a calendar hanging on an adjacent wall, and ducked down behind the bar, searching for the strongest bottle of vodka. She knew Gloria had a special stash of the smooth shit dammit, ‘ _ugh, where was it?’_

The dull orange glow from the buzzing neon sign saying _Gloria's_ hung on the bar wall wasn't bright enough to distinguish the labels on the bottles in the darkened bar.

“What on earth are you doing?” Klaus’s voiced drifted over to her, she could tell he was amused again. Best keep him like that. Happy Klaus was a non-murderous Klaus. She hoped. Though she had also heard that murder makes him very happy. This could really go either way.

“What do you think? I’ve just spent around eight months getting my magic leeched away from me according to that calendar over there, I need something strong to wash the stench of that bitch and her herbs away.”

She managed to fit her head into a small compartment to the side under the cash register.

“Are you even old enough?” A huff came from over the bar, closer than it was before.

“Are you?” she childishly retorted before she paused and clenched her eyes shut at her stupidity. ‘ _Shit, I did_ not _just say that to one of the oldest things on the planet.’_

There was a pause before an incredulous chuckle took its place somewhere above her and she sighed. She gave up her hunt, grabbed the first bottle of vodka she saw and sheepishly stood up. Klaus leaning on the bar staring, not in a good way, but in an are-you-naturally-this-dumb-or-did-you-hit-your-head-somewhere-really-hard type of way.

She gave him her best smile while grabbing two glasses from the counter and setting one in front of him, and another in front of her.

“Sorry, I tend to put my foot in my mouth so often that I think my feet smell minty fresh,” she winced as she broke the seal on the bottle and started pouring it into the waiting glasses, “there you go, that’s another example – jeez that’s disgusting, why the ever-loving _fuck_ would I say that,”

She kept muttering under her breath, insanely aware he could hear every word and she was just willing herself to _stop talking._ She set the bottle down and threw back the very generous amount she had poured herself; the burn was a welcome feeling, but she forgot how strong it was.

Annalise choked back a cough and accidentally made eye-contact with him. A single eyebrow raised in judgement. She felt the involuntary urge to defend herself. “What? I swear I’m old enough, I come from Australia and legal drinking age there is 18. If the date on the calendar is right though, I turned 20 two weeks ago. I have eight months worth of vodka to catch up on.” She shrugged, and started pouring another glass for herself.

Eager to look away from the intense calculative eye contact that Klaus was trying to engage her in, she looked around Gloria’s bar. The moonlight from the large glass windows illuminated the dark bar and Annalise noticed for the first time the bowls of blood and the hardened melted wax of the numerous candles littering the floor. The beautiful speakeasy had transformed into a set out of Carrie; The Musical. This was a red flag. A big one. 

She should go. 

A glance back at the hybrid revealed he was now frowning down at the bar top in deep thought. He looked strangely harmless, but then again, Gloria had been all warm smiles and free alcohol too. She wasn’t going to let anyone else get the drop on her again. Annalise cleared her throat, smiling awkwardly as Klaus looked towards her once more.

“So, this has honestly been great and all – thanks, y’know, from saving me from dying in that depressing room, but not so much for the strangling and the threatening.” With the vodka bottle still in her hand she made her way out from behind the bar and across the room towards the exit. While she was trying her hardest to keep her eyes trained on the door - her goal - she still felt his intrigued gaze drill holes into her back from where he still sat leaning against the bar. She inhaled sharply, feeling phantom hands circle her neck no less than a few minutes ago. “That certainly wasn’t ideal, please let’s never repeat that. So, uh…catch ya later gator. This has been real, thanks.”

She was so, _so_ close to the door. Her hand reach for the glass door - all that now lay between her and freedom - but abruptly startled when instead, she found herself face-to-chest? with the hybrid. She stumbled back in a futile effort to put more distance between them.

In the moonlight slanting in through the gaps in the blinds covering the large windows, Annalise realised Klaus looked every bit the predator the legends spoke of. His eyes were hooded, threatening, and his smile was sharper than any Annalise had seen in her life. It was a scheming smirk, a cunning one. She felt dread pool in her gut, and the expression 'out of the frying pan, and into the fire' came to mind as he towered over her, tilting his head slightly. 

Annalise's feet carried her back further when he spoke.

“You are a witch. You have magic,” He stalked towards her lazily. He thought she had no where to run, or if she did, that there was no way she could out run him - escape him. Annalise hated that he was right, at least for now. 

Still she matched his steps, moving back as he moved towards her in a deadly dance. Her mouth, unbidden, retorted to hide her discomfort. “Um, that’s a yes to one of those statements.”

His brow furrowed but he visibly dismissed her words as that of a panicked witch, saying anything to save her own skin. Another step forwards. “I need a witch for the road now that my other witch is apparently otherwise indisposed." Fuck, the back of her bare heel hit the wall as he towered over her threateningly, closing the distance. "You’re coming with me.” 

There was no ceremony as he grabbed her arm in a tight, bruising grip, and promptly started dragging her towards the exit.

“Wait, no, wait a minute, oi!” Annalise initially dug her heels into the polished wood and found no purchase, so she started punching and slapping his hand with her other arm while trying to keep her balance at the fast pace her was walking at. “ _Hey!_ I’m talking to you, ever heard of _using your words?!”_ In a last ditch attempt, she swung around the vodka bottle with her free hand and used it to whack at his arm. 

There. That seemed to get his attention. He looked at her strangely affronted and in slight disbelief before it melted into fury. “Today has been nothing short of tiring, love, and I’m _vexed,_ so it would be in your best interest to do what I say, or I _end_ you, understood?” He had leaned in, face twisted into anger and Annalise could almost believe steam would blow out his ears. But, she had a feeling she wouldn't remain in subpar health if she voiced her thoughts. Instead, she schooled her expression tightly and gave him a reluctant nod. 

Yet, even as she clutched her vodka to her chest with both hands, Annalise made sure to meet his stare head on. Someone she greatly admired had once told her she shouldn't avoid eyes when speaking to someone, had said that it was a sign of dishonesty, and that you could learn a great deal by looking into someone's eyes.

Right now, Annalise couldn't tell a great deal from Klaus' eyes that wasn't already obvious by the seething way he held himself. But she did know that when she nodded, maintaining eye contact, Klaus acquiesced the smallest amount. Despite her dread at being forced to comply to someone else's demands once more - being kidnapped, _again -_ the way in which she held her ground had Klaus lowering his metaphorical hackles. 

She vaguely wondered if he had literal ones. But no - returning to her current dilemma. Annalise wasn’t nearly rested enough to fight back, and certainly not with an Original - The Hybrid, at that. She wanted to eat _dammit_ , and sleep, but oh, the world didn’t want her to. Annalise swallowed her bitterness. Not like she had anything left to lose, or hell, anything better to do.

Klaus smirked to himself, rising once more to his full height as he amusedly cocked his eyebrow at her. “Good choice love, follow me – and keep up!”

Turning on his heel, he pulled the double glass doors open with a dramatic flair, and walked off down the pavement. Annalise felt her brow twitch at the sudden whiplash between his anger then frustratingly smug air before jogging to catch up, all while fuming and muttering curses under her breath.

She wondered if it was too late to ask him to slow down a little – she had no shoes on after all, it was the decent thing to do.

As she left Gloria's bar behind, Annalise was remained unaware of the feeling of magic building forebodingly, and in anticipation. 

The Earth held her breath.

-

Captivity sucked. But midnight strolls down the cold empty streets of Chicago with literally one of the most dangerous creatures on Earth came in a close second.

Annalise was tired to the _bone._ She was puffing, struggling to trying to keep up with Klaus’s long strides. Obviously, he wasn't going his full speed and he had sort of slowed down for her, but would it really kill him to just slow down a _bit_ more? Her stiff underused joints were aching, her bare feet stung from the cold concrete pavement she walked on, and her glasses kept slipping down her nose. She was having a very not good day.

It could always be worse though; she’d take this over being trapped and drugged for another hour any day. At least Annalise was outside, able to see the stars shine down on her and feel the freezing wind blow through her hair. Feel the ground under her feet. 

Annalise corrected herself. Maybe ‘feel’ had been the wrong word there - she was pretty sure her feet were so numb from the cold that she wouldn't feel it she walked on lego, or even if a scooter hit her on the shin. 

What she _could_ feel however, was her magic, thrumming and interacting with the magic dispersed in the Earth. It was familiar, and growing stronger by the minute; regaining her magical bearings. It wouldn’t take long at all to give Klaus the slip. No ill will towards the enigmatic guy at all - he had been quiet, scheming and brooding for the entire walk - and Annalise appreciated it more than filling the silence with small talk.

It’s just that she valued being alive and she wanted to stay that way, thank you very much.

An abrupt pain erupting on the bridge of her nose where her glasses pressing tightly into it brought her out of her thoughts, making Annalise realise in cold dread that she had run face-first into a solid back.

Internally she cringed at herself,but moved back a few steps silently to take in her surroundings instead of seeing Klaus' unsurprised and annoyed stare directed at her. They had arrived at one of those warehouses that lined the docks of Chicago; only this one looked abandoned and sort of run down. This fact was countered immediately by the presence of a large cargo truck parked near one of its garages and the internal lights of the warehouse very clearly being on. 

Klaus let his annoyed stare linger for a few moments longer for her to realise the true weight of his disdain before he then moved towards the entrance, with much more speed and purpose before. She jogged again to catch up, hissed periodically in pain when she stepped on sharp gravel on the foot path before her.

When Annalise looked up, Klaus had already made it to the door and was waiting on her. Cursing internally once more, she hopped then tried to limp-jog pathetically to the door that Klaus was impatiently holding open. Huh, an Original holding the door for her – chivalry really _was_ dead.

Struggling to maintain her own annoyed press to her lips at her internal pun, she crossed the doorway into the building and immediately sighed at the cool - but not freezing - smooth concrete beneath her poor feet. Without waiting for her to revel in smooth flooring, Klaus’ sped off down the narrow corridor faster than before, making her hasten after him. No way was she getting lost in an abandoned Chicago warehouse alone.

Trailed unsurely behind him, her eyes widened as he lead them into a large storage room filled with shelves maybe a couple storeys high, all filled to the brim with nondescript packages - two distinct voices in conversation inside stopped suddenly when Klaus walked around the corner of a large metal shelving unit into the open.

Annalise hung back in trepidation, but peeked through the shelving at a man and woman unable to curb her curiosity. They looked close, but distrusting of each other at the same time. 

Klaus’ brow was set in a serious frown as his voice echoed through the large room, directed at the pair. “Gloria’s gone. She’s cleared out, possibly dead. I found a new witch.” He gestured vaguely in Annalise’s direction before pausing. “What’s going on?”

The blonde female spoke up immediately, her eyes flicking to the man beside her suspiciously, then back at Klaus. “Something’s wrong. He was asking about Mikael. He’s not with us, Nik. I can sense it.”

“She’s wrong. Klaus-”

The man's immediately denials were cut short in the blink of an eye as Klaus had appeared behind him, snapped his neck with horrifyingly little effort. The dull thud his body made as it hit the concrete ground sounded loud in her ears. Annalise found it hard to breath. Did someone just _die?_ Images of children, her _friends-_ That feeling of _helplessness._

Blood rushed in her loudly, rushing, _deafening - she couldn’t breathe-_

"Hey, hey. Look at me.”

Two large hands grabbed her shoulders she distantly realised had been shaking; she felt them warm her skin through her thin shirt. Strange. The last two times those hands had been on her, they'd bruised her neck and wrists. Now they felt almost gentle.

Annalise gulped, focusing on dragging air into her resisting lungs. The bottle of vodka in her hands dug into her tight hold, too tight. It hurt. When she opened her eyes again, she didn't remember ever closing them - but that thought was distant when she focused on the cold and impartial blue-green eyes in front of her.

Her breath had evened out as she watched the now familiar small smirk crawl across his lips, and she found herself narrowing her even at him warily. Klaus took this as a cue to remove his hands and move away, back to the blonde girl who she found was watching her in a disdainful manner at showing such weakness. When Annalise met her stare squarely, the judgement lifted with her brow. Klaus was still watching her; his grin widened when he realised Annalise still hadn't looked straight at the dead body. 

“Did that scare you then, love?" He shrugged in a blasé manner. "It’s best if you get used to it soon, after all, you _are_ going to be around _me_. You’ll find that death follows me quite often.”

Annalise watched him closely; albeit a bit tiredly. The momentary freedom she had revelled in outside had disappeared, with a new weight of trepidation and death sinking down on her shoulders. “No. I won’t get used to needless violence Klaus. Count on it.”

He just smirked wider, probably about to point out some irony in her declaration, but the blonde walked towards her, inspecting her top to bottom. When she spoke, she spoke petulantly in the same English lilt that Klaus spoke in. 

“So, this is the witch? Funny I imagined someone taller.” 

Annalise gaped, already feeling less dressed in dirty jeans and a ratty shirt compared to the girl's immaculate blonde curls falling down her simple white shirt and designer pants. Immediately, her lips pressed stubbornly as she bit back. “Dude. Low blow.”

“You don’t say? It must have been quite low to strike _you_.”

The blonde smirked bizarrely similar to Klaus as Annalise moved backwards as though the insult had been a physical blow. Klaus just looked between the girls entertained as the blonde girl looked back at him.

“What’s her name then?”

Klaus’s smirk dropped like a stone.

“There was too much going on, I was too busy, she was a witch and she was convenient,” he sounded defensive and gestured wildly at Annalise. “I was distracted-”

“Did you just…”

“Wait, you pointed at all of her…”

“…gesture at all of me?”

The blonde’s and Annalise’s eyes met in amusement, and in that moment Annalise felt they shared the same wavelength. Annalise grinned genuinely at her, and she sent her a small smile back. Klaus dragged a weary hand down his face.

Wait. Her smile slowly dimmed as what Klaus had just said really sunk in. He had already made his decision then. He had called her a witch that was both convenient. In his mind, Annalise had been powerful enough that even Gloria had siphoned her magic from her.

She really wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

"Well, then?" The girl was still looking to her, arms crossed, and Annalise sighed.

“My name is Annalise, but um, I find it horrifying and pretentious, so call me by any variation of the name except the full thing yeah? Pleased to meet you.”

The girl reached for her outstretched hand. "Well, Annie,"

"No," Annalise found herself cutting in abruptly, swallowing at the sudden pain in her chest. "Not that, sorry. Lis. Lissie."

"Right then. Lissie?" The girl had faltered, raising a brow at her before smirking at Annalise's awkward grin. “You’re adorable Lissie, definitely nicer than normal witches. I’m Rebekah, Nik's sister. Pleasure’s ours.”

Right, she should've guessed. Blonde and green eyed, sharing the same accent as Klaus? This was an Original too. Annalise hugged her vodka again as soon as Rebekah let her hand go. She wanted to down the entire bottle in her stress at meeting the freaking Original Hybrid and his family - Gloria had been bitching about him for weeks after he broke his curse - but she was responsibly holding back her inner alcoholic until she felt it was safe to let go of the reins.

Klaus was already done with the conversation, busily making his way over to the dead body and using the dead man's hands to pull him up into a sitting position before hauling him over a shoulder - again, effortlessly - into a fireman’s carry and carrying him through the open garage door. _Shit. How the fuck had she temporarily forgotten about the dead body on the ground?!?_

Annalise felt her face drain of colour as Klaus deposited the body into back of the large semi-truck she had seen parked outside. Once he returned, casually, he looked at Rebekah.

“Well? Are you going to help with the coffins or not?”

Rebekah looked back at Lis and sighed as if this was a chore and not like they were _talking about coffins, had she heard Klaus right? Coffins?!?_ As she watched Klaus walk off in the direction of the coffins close to them that Annalise hadn't noticed until now, she found herself speechless. How many people had he killed and why the fuck were they in such expensive _lovely_ looking mahogany coffins, and _why was he packing them into a U-Haul?_

Wait, maybe she was mistaken. Emerging from her internalised mini-freak out, Annalise narrowed her eyes at the coffins. They didn't feel like death. Conventional death, that is. 

“Duty calls. Wait, is there any way you can use your witchy magic to help? It would be handy.”

Annalise blinked rapidly, nearly failing to register Rebekah's question even as she heard Klaus stop working – he wanted an answer as well. Lis swallowed and went with the truth; there was no way she was a good enough liar to lie straight to an Original’s face, much less two; especially with their enhanced ears listening in on her stuttering nervous heartbeat.

“I can’t help, at least not right now. I’ve been gaining my magic back since Klaus rescued me from Gloria’s, but I’m not strong enough, not yet. The lobelia and the other sedatives are still in my system." Annalise smiled flatly at the ground before looking at the siblings again, shrugging. "So uh…no to both questions, I can’t help, nor use witchy magic, as you put it.”

Rebekah lifted a perfect eyebrow in question, focusing on a certain part of her answer.

“Nik rescued you?” She sounded unconvinced as he looked back at her brother, who had already moved back to busily push the coffins onto the racks fixed inside the truck.

Annalise shot her a tight-lipped smile, nodding as Rebekah looked back at her.

“Um…yeah. Gloria had me trapped in a back room of the speakeasy with lots of herbs and metric shit-ton of lobelia to supress my powers. She kept me weak and sedated while she drained my magic for the last eight months. It wasn’t great. And um, then, Klaus found me about a half-hour ago I think? My magic was too weak to even get a warded door open. So, I kinda owe your brother, I guess. Not too much though, he was sort of a prick because he strangled me and then made me walk the frozen streets of Chicago with bare feet. Two different incidents in the span of like 10 minutes, but the whole principle of it still stands. He was mean.”

Lis hugged herself tightly again. It was a miracle the bottle in her arms hadn’t cracked by now. She had no doubt she looked clearly uncomfortable, but at least she was getting stronger. But, despite this, she found herself remaining rooted in one spot as she spoke, thoughts of escape not as loud as they once were. It was nice, speaking to people again. People who weren't Gloria. She might have convinced herself that she was being honest because of her survival instinct, but maybe she was just sick of lying.

She shrugged at Rebekah as she looked down at Annalise’s feet, lip curling in clear disgust, before her eyes flicked between her ankles, taking note of the dark bruises rope burn. Annalise felt a tad self-conscious of her feet, so curling her toes inwards, she spoke again, letting her mouth run freely to shift Rebekah's attention.

“Um…but he did save me from life-long servitude, so I guess that counts for something. Then again, he just killed a guy and wants me to serve _him_ forever without really giving me a choice, so I mean, it really begs the question of whether or not he really saved me? Anyways, I’m just tired and hungry and I’m glad you guys didn’t decide to tie me up cos that’s the deal-breaker at this point. Then again, I really doubt my decision-making capabilities are up to par right now though, so I’m just going with the flow.”

During her little outburst Klaus had casually signalled Rebekah to take one end of the last coffin with him taking the other, and place it with the others in the back of the truck. That coffin didn't hold conventional death either. As Annalise felt her normal magic trickle back in and build up, she could sense the other coffins contained something magical touched with death, but _this_ coffin _exuded_ magic. Dripped with it. 

She wasn't curious enough to ask questions. 

Rebekah spared a glance at Klaus who just lifted his brows and shrugged in a well-what-can-you-do gesture, appearing entertained by Annalise's tirade. “He didn’t kill him you know.” Lis glanced at her. “I mean he _did_ kill him, but he didn’t _kill_ kill him, it takes more than that to kill a vampire.”

Lis let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and felt the weight from before lighten on her shoulders as she and nodded in understanding and a bit of gratitude. It was this gratitude that Rebekah had calmed her, made her feel better about something that had been clearly weighing on her mind, that had Annalise taking a deep breath, taking a step forwards towards the pair still packing up the last of their belongings. 

“So, uh…for the interest of honesty and y’know, generally staying alive,” Lis started as Klaus and Rebekah moved to face her - she ignored Klaus lifted his eyes to the ceiling like he was annoyed she wouldn't stop talking. “I’ve tried to say this a couple times but like you guys didn’t really seem to pick up on my wording, it so like it’s not really my fault that you didn’t understand, so technically I haven’t done anything wrong, like outright lie to you.”

Klaus' annoyed and disinterested gaze had sharpened as she rambled, rubbing at her neck, but still managing to keep the oh-so-important eye contact to convey her sincerity. Rebekah was close behind him as he stalked to her angrily, mouth twisted into an angry scowl.

“What have you been hiding from us, _witch?”_ He hissed into Annalise's face, making her lean back away from him. Rebekah looked more inquisitive but wary, nonetheless. 

Here goes. 

“That’s just it,” Lis took in a shuddering deep breath and exhaled weakly. _“I’m not a witch.”_

Klaus’s glare grew deeper, festering as spat. “What kind of lie is that? You _have_ magic, you said Gloria was stealing it off you, you said your magic was coming back now that you were free. If this is a ploy to get out from working under me I -”

She was waving her free hand in front of her denying his train of thought immediately.

“No, no I swear. I _can_ do magic, it’s just that I’m _not_ a witch, I can’t explai-, I just-, it’s a long story.” Lis sighed. Her headache was back. Her hand subconsciously raised to rub at her forehead.

“Well, it’s a good thing we’ve got an equally long drive ahead of us.” Rebekah's oddly chipper tone and look of warning as she passed Annalise a spare denim jacket had Annalise smiling slightly at the girl again in gratitude. It seemed she knew of her brother's temperament, and this was her way of talking him down, for his benefit as well as hers. Rebekah didn't smile back - she was still obviously suspicious of what Lis had just revealed, but it seemed Annalise had an unlikely ally looking out for her, as long as she didn't hurt her family.

"Right." Klaus nodded at Rebekah, hard gaze still trained suspiciously at Annalise. "Get in, both of you. I think it’s high time we left the windy city far behind us.”

Rebekah nodded in agreement, grabbing the last of her bags and heading in the direction of the truck. Klaus went to go find a guard to presumably tidy up and erase any trace left of them – he was nothing if not resourceful.

With a sigh Lis bent down to grab her precious bottle, but felt a wave of dizziness slam into her like a freight truck.

 _Ugh._ She had known the alcohol on an empty stomach was a bad idea. Well, that, along with the high stress roller-coaster that was the last couple hours certainly wasn’t helping. Nor the drugs that were likely still in her system.

Annalise felt bile rising in her throat and she bent forwards, putting her head between her crouched knees as she tried to breathe – it just felt worse. This wasn't working. She stood up again far too quickly, and immediately felt blood rush from her head. Losing her balance, Annalise felt her knees buckle.

Her precious vodka bottle smashed between her hand and the ground as she reflexively tried to brace herself for her impact with the smooth concrete. Her hand stung, and the last thing she thinks she saw was bright red blood. Her last thought however, was ‘ _oh fuck, there go my glasses.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's chapter 1 finished, how did you like it?  
> I'm hoping the chapters from here on in are around 5000 words like this one - so expect long chapters from here on in :)


	3. The Dark Descent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick update!!  
> Warning: This chapter is backstory-heavy. :D
> 
> Update: Revised

Annalise felt herself jostle as she slowly returned to consciousness. There was a constricting strap diagonally down her front, but she didn’t remember Gloria coming back in to tie her up. The sedating herbs must’ve been stronger this time round.

Though...she could _swear_ she felt the slightest bit of chilly wind brush through her hair, Annalise knew as soon as she opened her eyes she was going to see those musty wooden walls that greeted her every morning without fail. 

So, Annalise shut her eyes, willing herself to stay in this dream for a bit longer - to feel the magic in the air as she breathed it in.

“Ah, the small sleeping beauty finally wakes.” A familiar male voice broke through her thoughts, and her eyes snapped open immediately.

Looking around, she found herself in the passenger seat of a large semi-truck. The road stretched out in a black smudge in front of her, illuminated only by the strong beams of light from the truck. There were sparse amounts of dark masses that took the vague shape of trees as they flew past, along with the regular poles of powerlines. It was still nighttime, dark, but the speed at which they were driving made everything blur, even the– _Oh._ She needed her glasses.

Just the thought had entered her mind, a large hand appeared in front of her face, presenting her dainty gold rimmed round glasses to her, thankfully still intact.

“Ah, thank you.” Annalise timidly accepted them, settling them on her nose, focusing back on the road. She wasn’t totally wrong before, they _were_ going quite fast, just not as fast as she originally thought.

Klaus had finally looked back towards the road as well, seated in the driver's seat to her left - looking the most relaxed Annalise had ever seen him. His window was open, breeze ruffling through his curls that looked dark in the night; one elbow was balanced outside, hand supporting his chin, and his other hand was relaxed on his leg, gripping the bottom of the steering wheel lightly. A brief glance backwards revealed Rebekah was spread out comfortably on the back seat, her window also cracked open to a lesser extent. The girl was staring outside, bored, but straightened slightly in interest as she realised Annalise had woken.

Lis gave her a brief and awkward smile before turning back to the front. It had all been real then. Gloria was dead. She was...free? Annalise could figure that out later, because she couldn't stop the smile building on her face as she realised she would never have to see that musty old closet again.

The radio was playing so quietly that the sound of wind rushing past nearly drowned it out. She wished it was louder, because this moment felt celebratory - but then again, she was currently trapped in a vehicle moving at high speeds with two of the most dangerous people to walk this Earth. Annalise had entertained this long enough. 

Taking quick inventory of her health; Lis found her headache and nausea were gone, and thankfully, there were no signs of a hangover. She was feeling good, if not a bit thirsty. Oh, how she loved her magic. It felt like she was nearly back to normal, only not quite up to par with her magic - she hadn't used it in 8 months, more, if she was being honest with herself. She didn't have enough to escape just yet. 

Annalise didn't know why that thought didn't strike as much fear into her heart as it should have. 

It was quiet; peaceful almost. Annalise let her head tilt back, savouring the magic the moonlight bathed her in. She wished her peace could last forever.

Obviously, this meant that Klaus had to break it.

“As you’ve now had plenty of rest,” he reached over once again and offered her a bottle of water from behind her seat. She took it eagerly and drank half of it in one go, not having realised exactly how thirsty she had been, “and adequately hydrated,” he continued with an unperturbed smirk, “I think it’s time you told us what you meant when you said you _weren’t_ a witch.”

Annalise sighed, screwing the lid on the bottle back on slowly. “Like I said, it’s a long story.”

“And like _I_ said, we still have half the drive left.” Rebekah piped up from the back. She shot Lis a challenging smirk when she turned to her.

Klaus apparently feeling as playful as his sister though. “Get talking, or we kill you now, and dump your body in one of the bushes we pass.” Right. Quick to anger, quick to scheme. Seemed he only existed in two moods. 

Annalise inhaled deeply. She had to buy her time - her magic hadn't recovered enough for her to escape, right? 

“Fine. I was born in Australia, to two parents of the witchy variety. They were part of a small coven who specialised in connective magic – y’know the kind of magic that connects witches or other supernatural creatures and allow spell casting by channelling a collective pool of available magic. My parents were never strong enough on their own to just survive off traditional magic. They literally needed to be a part of their coven to feel a stable connection to nature – to feel whole. They were also poor, dirt poor, so that didn't exactly help things.” Lis looked out her own window and watched the dim streetlights approach then disappear behind them repeatedly. It was almost hypnotic.

“Everything was great I guess, but then they had me. They were young, they never wanted a child, so they weren’t ready, especially not financially. They wanted to put me up for adoption, so it would be a better life for me, and for them; but they were persuaded out of that decision by the coven. After all, there is always a strong connection between a familial bond and familial magic – maybe my presence would make them more powerful, strengthen their bond, and also the coven’s bond, with nature.”

Lis felt Rebekah stare on the side of her head, fully engrossed in the story.

“For a while that was true. They thought I was a prodigal little baby witch. I showed large bouts of accidental magic before I could even talk apparently. When I first started walking, I floated every time I fell. I was good. Far too good. No one really mentioned it, but everyone knew I was different. Then it got to a point where they couldn't just ignore it anymore - this was a Sunday morning. I was seven and I was playing with my friend, Zoe. She wanted to climb the highest tree she could. I tried to warn her against it but she said that even if she did fall, I’d be there to catch her." Annalise realised her nails had been digging into her palms with how hard she was clenching her hands. There was a lump in her throat, and her nose stung.

"I couldn’t stop her climbing up, and I couldn’t stop her from falling right in front of me.”

Tears filled her eyes as the vivid memory of her friend's face twisting grotesquely in unadulterated pain filled her vision every time she blinked. Annalise could also feel Klaus watching her closely out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't going to break down. This was just her buying time. 

Clearing her throat, she took a deep breath and continued, “she wasn’t dead, but she was going to be, soon. I felt it. She was screaming and crying, I-, I-, I think her spine was broken.” Lis let out a measured exhale.

“Everyone was there, fast. It was a small community. The elders, her parents, my parents – everyone. But they were crowding her, panicking her, and hurting her more...I could just tell. Zoe eventually grew quiet and I could tell she was going to die, and so did the elders because they started preparing her and her body for her last rites. They were giving up, and I just wanted to help her, to stop her hurting. So I yelled at them to stop."

Annalise leaned the side of her head against the cool window, caught up in her own trap, absorbed in the memories that played in her mind on loop. "I didn’t realise back then, but my magic had pushed everyone away a couple metres, and only I was able to touch her. I held her hand, and I could just feel her life, her magic, weakening and draining away. So, I told it to stop draining away.”

Annalise could feel Klaus turn his full attention towards her, rapt, and Rebekah lean forwards to grip onto her seat, knuckles white.

“I _willed_ her to survive, I _willed_ her to stay, I _willed_ her pain away, and finally I just _willed_ her spine to snap back into place and heal. Everyone looked shocked when my friend sat up, including her. I had brought her back from the very brink of death and I hadn't even broken a sweat." Annalise bit her lip. "My parents later said my eyes were inhuman, that they glowed. They then took me to the coven elders and asked them to explain _how_ I was so powerful. The coven elders said that there was no earthly explanation. They said I was dark, unnatural, and abomination.”

At this declaration there was a sharp inhale to her left. She kept going.

“They kicked my parents out of the coven, and I never saw my friend again. Word had spread among the witch communities that I shouldn’t exist, that I was dark magic personified, so my parents used the last of their savings and decided to leave Australia and migrate to the US instead. None of it mattered though, it didn’t matter where they went, which covens they begged, no one would let them join. Magic as a witch, it’s like an extension of your soul. You take that away, and an empty shell of a human remains - that’s what I like to believe my parents became after being rejected from each coven, unable to practice magic themselves – empty people.”

Lis brought her knees up and hugged them to her chest. She made herself settle deeper into the seat, but she kept going.

“They were nice parents at the start I guess, they weren’t exactly loving, but they tried to make sure I was a happy child, that I wasn’t affected by their poverty. But after everything happened, they felt so detached. They left me in motels for weeks on end with a note to the owner asking them to leave some snacks at my door. They’d move before we were asked to pay. They kept looking for ways to regain their magic. So, I made a conscious effort not to use mine. It felt wrong, they lost their magic because of me, and I was convinced that my magic was dark, it shouldn’t be used. I believed every word they said. I felt what they felt for a while – detached and empty, the more I repressed my magic. It was my fault; everything was my fault, so I punished myself. It stayed this way for a couple years, then I guess they gave into the allure of dark magic, sacrificial magic. I was honestly surprised that they didn’t give in earlier – but I guess that means for what it’s worth, they were pretty decent people once.”

Lis shifted in her seat and braced herself for the last part of her story. “They had found that sacrificial magic worked best. They drew on the power of supernatural creatures like vampires they came across and drained them of their magic until a husk remained – leaving them dead. I didn’t even realise it until they had killed five vampires. I walked in on them drawing power from the sixth. The vampire was in so much pain, much like my friend many years before – so I stepped in and I broke the spell. I snapped the cords holding the vampire and turned to see both my parents aiming their harvested power at me in anger. I was so scared that I wished I was back where I felt safe once – in my childhood home back in Australia. That was the first time I teleported.”

“Teleported?” Klaus cut in for the first time, eyes wide. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know, I just wished I was someplace else, I pictured it in my mind, and there I was. I’d even taken the vampire along with me because I was still holding their hand. Luckily, they were still unconscious, and my old home was empty. It took me about an hour to figure out, but I was able to teleport back to America by picturing the back door of the motel we were staying at. I felt the vampire was starting to wake up, so I left him there and went searching for my parents, I was sure they had made a mistake, that maybe even I had. I came into the room and everything was so quiet. My parents were calm, they apologized, and they lead me towards the kitchen table where they had prepared my favourite snack – baked sweet potato fries. It was all we could afford some nights, so they were pretty special to me.”

Lis smiled lightly before it dropped quickly and bright eyes were dull with dry sorrow, “I was the happiest I’d been for a long time. They sat me down, but then suddenly started chanting. Turns out, they decided to sacrifice me instead. Seemed poetic, y’know? I was the reason their magic was taken away; it should be me that gives them their power back. It hurt; I mean emotionally sure – like yikes, it's not everyday your parents try to kill you – but physically it felt like my soul was being torn out of me.”

A slow exhale, a deep inhale, she fidgeted with her glasses. 

“The vampire that I had saved had come looking for revenge. He had already been invited in of course, for the sacrificial ritual, so he walked in on them trying to kill the little girl that had saved him the same way they’d tried to kill him, and I guess he reacted without thinking too much. He yanked me out of the chair I was bound to, he broke the spell’s hold on me." 

"See the thing about Sacrificial magic is that once it’s started, it’s insanely hard to stop. It calls for a sacrifice, and since I was no longer part of the ritual, the spell bounced back on my parents. It was so powerful that they were dead before they hit the ground.”

Lis closed her eyes slowly, it had taken her a long time, but she had come to terms with their deaths. With help from...no. That part of her past was too painful, too fresh. She twisted her head leaning against her window, and finally looked leftwards at her silent audience.

“I was 11 when they died – the rest was pretty basic. I ran away, I was put into the system. Then I was put into school for the first time in America – I guess missing birth certificate and ID were pretty common among orphans, so it wasn’t a big deal getting new documents. I was a quick learner, I graduated school at 17 and I went back to Australia for a short time, just to reminisce. I completed a couple degrees over there, and I celebrated my nineteenth birthday. Over the years I’d really come to terms with my magic. I knew it wasn’t dark – I’d felt dark magic first-hand and that wasn’t how my magic felt. I felt more at peace with it. I could understand it better, if that makes sense. It was a couple years after that I finished my degree and teleported back to America – I came to Chicago. I heard there was a powerful witch around there. I wanted to look for the witch so I could learn a bit more about the practice of occult and traditional magic from her. That was Gloria. She helped me for a while – I learnt a lot from her, but I guess the more she figured out about my magic – the more she wanted it. She drugged me, locked me up. You know the rest.”

I shrugged and nodded at Klaus who surprisingly nodded back, eyes not as hard as she was used to from him. It was a nice change. 

“Well that was horrifying.” Rebekah was blunt, but Lis appreciated the heavy atmosphere disappearing.

“I told you it was long, and that it wasn’t pretty.” She passed the pretty blonde an easy smile and turned to the outside again. Her magic still wasn't at full battery, and after Annalise had shared her story, she no longer felt the same fear she had before. They were almost treating her as if she were on equal footing, and not a prisoner. It was hard to remember that she was supposed to be running away.

“So how are you sure you aren’t a witch? Sounds to me like you could be an extremely powerful one.” It was clear Klaus wanted more information. Right. She was still very much his prisoner. She sighed, picking at a loose thread in her jeans.

It was a more complicated explanation. She took her time trying to find the right words to explain what she was feeling. “Witches are basically conduits – conductors of magic. They have to draw magic from their surroundings, from elements, from other supernaturals to use it. In order to have access to nature’s magic, they must follow its laws and keep its balance – there’s always a price to pay.”

Klaus nodded along; he knew this already, he was impatient.

Lis turned and gave him her full attention. “I’m not bound by any laws of nature; I don’t have to pay a price. I don’t draw magic from my surroundings, my magic doesn’t have loopholes, I don’t need to channel anything, I don’t _need_ to do any of that. I don’t ne-,” she paused trying to find the right words. “I don’t need to do any of that because, while I don’t know exactly what I am, I do know that I _am_ magic.”

Lis heard Rebekah inhale sharply and Klaus looked towards her again. His eyes were still guarded, but they were also curious. Maybe being honest paid off – it was a hell of a gamble. There was absolutely no way now Klaus was ever going to let her go, he may not believe her fully yet, but even he couldn’t completely deny her power. It would be a long tiring life to serve his immortal one – but at least this time she chose it. Willingly.

“You believe me then?” She asked the empty silence. She heard rustling as Rebekah sat back in her seat and made herself comfortable once more, she made no move to answer her question.

Klaus did however, “I do believe you’re _something._ ” he said finally. “After all, you did get horribly drunk and manage to pass out on top of the sharp shards of the glass vodka bottle, and yet you woke up easily a couple of hours later completely healed – even the bruises you had from Gloria’s are completely gone.”

Lis startled forwards in remembrance and mourned silently at the loss of her alcohol.

“I predict this means that you are now fully recovered from your ordeal. You are fully recharged so to speak. Will you be teleporting away and escaping anytime soon?” Klaus’s drawl had that familiar undertone of danger and warning in it.

Annalise took a moment to think out her answer. She knew, but she just wanted to give herself a second to make sure that she wanted this.

“Look, I just told you guys my entire life story, I’ve never told anyone that before in my life, _never._ ” She turned to make eye contact with Rebekah, then Klaus. “There’s no point in dancing around the topic, I know you guys aren’t gonna let me go any time soon, not after you found out exactly what I could do. But let’s be honest, I knew the second I decided to bang on that door that I had made a choice I will have to live with forever.” She made sure her eyes showed her sincerity.

“I _owe_ you Klaus, maybe not much – after all, I am stuck with yet another supernatural hellbent on being eternal – but I do owe you, just a bit more. I promise you’ll be the first to know when I feel I’ve fulfilled my gratitude towards you.”

She could stick with them for a while, right? Make a break for it if it got too intense. 

Klaus nodded solemnly and turned back towards the road. Rebekah giggled in the back. “Well said, Lissie, well said.”

She was just about to reply when she realised that magic may have healed everything, but her hunger had returned suddenly with a vengeance. A low gurgling stomach growl filled the vacant silence.

Rebekah snorted out a choked laugh and even Klaus chuckled lowly.

“Hey no, you don’t get to laugh.” Lis was embarrassed, but she wasn’t to let it show. “Hey, I haven’t eaten in nearly a whole day now, Gloria didn’t feed me too well.” Immediately the chuckles stopped.

A soft voice spoke up from the back “I’m sorry I didn’t think-”

“No, no it’s okay,” Lis scrambled awkwardly to save the light atmosphere. “I didn’t mean to bring everyone down I’m sorry,”

Rebekah saw her struggling and clearly realised how uncomfortable Lis was, more so than usual. “Bring everyone down to your level, you mean? That’s quite ambitious of you.”

Lis whipped her head around in exaggerated insult, she could already tell Klaus was holding in a laugh at her expense, and she couldn’t keep her small giggle in either. “Shut up Bekah. Cool it with the short jokes.”

As Lis turned away and snuggled deeper into her little corner in order to try to sleep the hunger away, she missed Rebekah’s small and genuine smile directed at her. Klaus didn’t.

-

The next time Annalise woke, it was with an insanely sore neck – thankfully that meant her glasses hadn’t fallen off during her nap, but she had fallen asleep with her head at an unnatural angle against the car door. She winced as she tried to stretch the painful crick out.

Looking around, she realised it was daytime, and that the truck was parked on the side of a road which looked like it belonged to a small town. She also found that she was alone in the truck. Panicked she looked out of the windows frantically, before deciding that there’s no way the two Originals would abandon both her and their precious truck in broad daylight. Not when she was technically their willing prisoner...right?

Was this a test?

She sighed, reclined her seat slightly and contemplated the night before.

Two of the oldest creatures on the planet had accepted her story. They may not trust it fully, but they did accept it. That meant something to her. They hadn’t shied away from her horrifying past – they hadn’t judged her like – that thought made her huff out a pained laugh.

As _if_ they were in any position to judge her past, she hummed. They might actually be the only people in the world that actually sort of understand her. Rebekah had certainly grown on her, but Klaus a little less so. His constant mood swings left him unpredictable – but who was she to judge personalities – she came with her own fair share of baggage.

Maybe they'd become friends too; after all, it would be a great deal easier to help a friend, than to be obliged to help a stranger.

Annalise snorted lightly at the thought. _Imagine_ being friends with the Hybrid.

There was a knock at the driver’s side door before it opened. Rebekah climbed up into the seat almost gracefully and placed a brown paper bag on Lis’s lap. The smell of a hamburger and chips already wafted up into her nose and she was digging into the food groaning before Rebekah could say a single word.

The blonde let out a little laugh at her enthusiasm. “Oh my god Bekah, thanks so much. You're a literal angel.” the words were muffled through the mouthfuls of burger and chips she was inhaling. This prompted Bekah to laugh harder.

Between a mouthful, Lis glanced up at Rebekah in a question. “Where’s Klaus?”

“He’s with Stefan, he’s been snapping his neck repeatedly.” Oh, Lis winced. She assumed that was the vampire who's death prompted her to have a panic attack. She felt kinda sorry for him. 

She had one more question as she stuffed a couple delicious fries into her already full mouth. “And where are we?” She managed to mumble out

At this, Rebekah rolled her eyes, before sarcastically sweeping out an arm towards the small town in front of them. “Welcome, my dear Lissie, to the wonderful town of Mystic Falls!”


	4. The Reckoning Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Canon-typical violence and Strong Language.  
> Update: Revised. :)  
> Hope you Enjoy!!

A peaceful mood had settled in the front of the truck, filled with the occasional giggle as Lis had taken to teaching Rebekah how to use her new phone. Right now, she was teaching her about the art of taking selfies. 

If someone had told her a year ago that she'd be in the front seat of semi for hire, chumming it up with one of the oldest supernaturals ever to exist, Annalise would've probably laughed herself to an early death. Now she was here, however, she had to admit...it wasn't half bad.

“This is so stupid.” Rebekah giggled trying to angle the phone so she found a position that suited her profile best. "In my day, people painted life-sized portraits of us."

"At least we don't have to be stuck frozen until they're finished for hours on end." Lis snorted when Rebekah changed the angle yet again. “Well, that's at least if you manage to take a selfie sometime today.”

Annalise manoeuvred herself closer to Rebekah’s side and reached out to position the blonde’s finger on the right button.

Rebekah whined while shoving her away. “No, let me do it, here I’ve nearly got it.”

There was a tell-tale click of a photo being taken and both girls peered closer at the phone to see the result. A burst of laughter escaped Lis as she curled up and away from Bekah in hysterics choking out a quiet, “Oh my gosh.”

Rebekah just looked plain insulted. “This makes it look like I have a double chin. I do _not_ have a double chin Lissie, this is your fault.” The photo had been taken at a very unflattering angle in their miniscule tussle earlier. “How do I get rid of this?”

Rebekah had started pressing random buttons at Annalise's continued wheeze, but a smile remained steady on her face.

“Here, here, hand it over,” still giggling, Lis reached over and showed Rebekah the process of deleting a photo. “And here’s how you take a good selfie,” She threw an arm around Rebekah’s shoulders, pulled her closer and raised the phone up and slightly to the right. “Say cheese.”

Rebekah’s “Why?” was captured perfectly on her perplexed looking face in the photo, next to an animated Lis, baring her teeth in a wide grin.

Giggling, she handed it back to Rebekah who immediately raised the phone to her face to inspect it closer. “But I look horrid.”

“I’m sorry, are we looking at the same person?” They were both grinning now.

The driver’s side door at Rebekah’s side suddenly opened, interrupting their conversation. Klaus didn't spare a glance at Rebekah as she climbed into the back seat, only pausing when a stray heeled foot came dangerously close to Lis’s face, and she whacked it away out reflex. A snort came from the back and the offending appendage disappeared behind Lis while she was still apathetically staring at Klaus, who in turn was quizzically studying their interaction.

Annalise gave him a sheepish shrug, making him shake his head in annoyance before making himself comfortable in the driver's seat. Something had clearly gotten him into a foul mood, and both girls exchanged a glance, shedding their previously amused grins as they waited for him to speak. They didn't need to wait long. “Stefan didn’t talk, but he was definitely worried about being back in Mystic Falls; worried for someone else.”

He put his seat belt on – which prompted everyone else to do the same – and turned the ignition, bringing the loud truck to life. “So, I asked around and it turns out the doppelgänger is alive. I believe it's time we pay her and the little Bennett witch a quick visit. I found out where they’ll be tonight.”

Lis kept quiet as she watched the cute shops and cafés lining the side of the small city road pass by. Bennett witch huh? She had heard of them – they were traditional magic witches; very powerful. She wondered what the siblings needed another magic-user for. “What business do you have with a Bennett witch? They don't like helping vampires more than some other covens, from what I've heard.”

Klaus glanced at her, before he glanced up at the rear-view mirror to look at Rebekah. Annalise turned curiously too, but Rebekah kept her eyes on Klaus, giving him a tight nod. “She needs to know at least a little if she’s going to help us Nik, I trust her.”

His eyes were still wary when he glanced back at Lis, but he only hesitated for a moment before starting to explain. “You know I’m a Hybrid,” Lis nodded slowly, “I wasn’t one until recently. The Original Witch put a curse on me that subdued my werewolf side after I became a vampire. What I am was considered too powerful to walk the earth.” Klaus continued looking straight ahead, missing Lis’s eyes widen slightly in shock.

“I broke the curse here in Mystic Falls at the beginning of last summer, and I left to go make more hybrids like me.” Annalise inhaled sharply but kept her questions to herself for the time being; interrupting him felt wrong after he'd listened so attentively to her own story. “I took Stefan with me after I saved his brother’s life, he came because he owed me. We eventually found a wolf pack and I fed them my blood, killed them, and waited for them to transition.”

She winced at the details but was otherwise unmoved. It was basically the same process used to create vampires after all. This was unexpected considering the stories she'd heard about him. She was more surprised he wasn’t more violent, but she felt like there was something she was missing. “When the werewolves woke again and they were in transition,” Klaus sighed and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “They went rabid, and I was forced to dispose of them.”

And there it was - the other shoe had dropped.

Annalise could tell that this burden was heavy on his stiff shoulders however, and that their deaths brought him no joy. His eyes were trained on the road, laden heavy, and his lips were pressed into a thin line, curling downwards. This had meant a lot to him.

“I’m sorry that happened. It must have been hard.” 

She cringed internally immediately. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut and tried _not_ to empathise with the baddest bogey monster in the recent history of the supernatural world. Either way, Klaus didn’t react outwardly, so she figured it was safe to move on from the lingering silence her statement left. “I’m still not sure what role the Bennett played though.”

“The Bennett witch, love,” he scowled in sudden anger, eyes narrowing into a murderous glare as it focused on some distant memory, “killed my witch and tried to have me killed while trying to save her friend – the doppelgänger.” Lis knew about those - they were rarer than a blue moon. “She managed to save the doppelgänger, while also managing to impede my ritual. Therefore, the Bennett must be the reason behind my recent shortcomings regarding the creation of my hybrids.”

It seemed as though Klaus was going to kill both the witch and the doppelgänger, judging by his dark growl and killer intent. Well, that sounded more like the Hybrid from the stories. Annalise narrowed her eyes in thought, however. He was definitely angry the doppelgänger was alive, but he sounded more betrayed.

Well, either way, Annalise wasn’t totally fine just standing by and Klaus kill anyone, so she felt it only right to try talk him out of it. She needed to pick her words carefully so she didn't worsen his current mood. She knew she had no hopes of tricking him into sparing them, he was fear too smart. “You still managed to break your curse though, so why do you think that it’s her fault and not some defect of the ritual?”

“Because love, I did everything right. I killed a vampire and a werewolf, had my witch use their blood to unbind the curse from the moonstone, then I drained the doppelganger of her blood. I did everything the spell required. If there was indeed a mistake, it wasn’t on my end.” Klaus bit out in frustration.

Maybe she wouldn't have to trick him at all. 

Annalise's eyes widened as she sat up straighter. “That doesn’t make sense.” 

“What do you mean?” Rebekah, who had kept quiet until now, was curious, and as was Klaus. His annoyance was only superficial at her interruption. He was itching to know what she meant as he looked towards Lis, waiting for her to elaborate. So, she did. 

“I mean, the curse, the ingredients, they don’t make sense,” Lis was once again back to her constantly uncomfortable self, but if lives depended on her for explaining something to Klaus, she could bear the awkwardness for now. After all, it did sound like the doppelgänger and the Bennett were just trying to save themselves. She sympathised with them.

“I studied years of magic theory on the side while I was in university, the occult, voodoo, hoodoo, traditional – anything that had been written down. There’s a found and applied science to these spells, the outcome of a spell or a curse literally depends on the magical essence of certain ingredients. Any more magical elements than needed in a spell- or any less – and it compromises the strength and integrity of the entire spell. It could make it weaker, it could explode, heck it might even do nothing.” she took a deep breath, winded.

“The point is that the vampire and the werewolf blood make sense – combining the two together is a representation of the synergy that you want the two warring species inside you to achieve. The moonstone makes sense – you said the curse was bound to the moonstone, it makes sense that you need it to unbind it. Those ingredients should theoretically be all that’s needed to break the curse. The doppelganger, draining her, it doesn’t make sense. Doppelgangers are rare, but they are also insanely low on the magical spectrum – they’re humans with a magical hereditary DNA – that’s literally the only thing special about them.”

Lis sat back in her seat, the sun had set outside and she saw the lights of the shops blinking on in her peripheries as she spoke.

“I don’t know why the Original witch used a doppelgänger as the final ingredient in the ritual – seeing as the ritual and the curse was indeed broken, and you are a Hybrid, I can only assume that the doppelgänger wasn’t an extra ingredient. Otherwise the spell wouldn’t have broken the curse, and the curse wouldn’t have been stable for this long. You killed her. You turned. Her miraculous survival isn’t the issue here. You did everything you needed to do. So, I’m willing to bet whatever’s stopping you from creating more hybrids has something to do with whatever the curse used the extra supernatural essence of a dead doppelgänger for.”

A surprised silence lingered in the air until Rebekah broke it, “See Nik? I told you she’d be useful.” The smirk in her voice was obvious and oh-so smug. Annalise rolled her eyes at the blonde behind her in good nature.

For the first time since their meeting, Klaus looked at her thoughtfully, eyes bereft of disdain. In fact, he seemed almost pleasantly surprised as he dipped his head at her. “That was indeed very useful love. If I got you to sit down with the witch, would you be able to figure out what it is that leftover magic was used for?”

“I guess? I mean, that depends really, on whether she has answers or not. I can’t guarantee anything,” Annalise scratched the back of her neck in a nervous tell and looked around to see the truck pull up at a local high school. “What are we doing here? At a high school?”

Klaus parked the truck, shooting her a wicked smirk. “We’ve come to collect my doppelganger and her witch love,” he said over his shoulder as he climbed out of the truck. He had one hand on the truck door as he turned back to glance at Lis who had become ashen at the prospect of Klaus hurting children, before looking to Rebekah, already climbing back over the seats again. “Stay with Stefan until he wakes up, I don’t want him running off. I’ll go in grab the girls and get out. Keep your phone on you.”

Annalise was still trying to recover from the fact that they were in fact hunting down teens for some convoluted sacrificial ritual, so when she finally tried to scramble after Klaus in an effort to stop him, he had already entered the school. Rebekah seemed unperturbed as she jumped out too, waving Lis down. “Get out of there, stretch your legs. Come around to the back of the truck and keep me company please?”

Lis gaped at her, internally freaking out. “The Bennett witch and the doppelganger, they’re _children_. He's gonna hurt children.” Her voice squeaked in alarm.

"Not pre-teens, Lissie, not even Nik's that devious. Think of them as mature adolescents." Rebekah sped around the car to the passenger side door and opened it looking unimpressed. “You need to get used to this. Human lives don’t matter to him. That’s just how he is.”

Lis curled her toes and looked resolutely down at Rebekah who was still waiting for her to get down. At her prompt, she sighed and started taking off her seatbelt. Maybe she could slip off into the school when Rebekah was distracted. “I’m not going to get used to it Bekah, I hope I never do.”

Annalise paused suddenly, her eyes unimpressed. Rebekah huffed and crossing her arms. “What now?”

She offered Rebekah a shrug. “Um…I don’t have shoes?”

Rebekah just smirked in amusement before spinning dramatically on her heel and walking to the back of the truck. No mercy found there. Honestly, it was about what she expected though. Sighing to herself, Lis tried to climb out gently but the height of the passenger seat meant she had to jump down the last couple feet on to the gravel. _Oh, her poor feet._ She muttered apologies under her breath and jumped, wincing as she landed.

Annalise paused, looking around the high school car park while running a hand through her oily and ratty long hair, then settled her glasses higher on her nose while breathing in the magic in the air around her.

It felt safe, comfortable and reassuring. She felt as though she wasn't alone anymore - she felt herself, as though the air itself was welcoming her back. It was hard to believe she had once thought her magic to be dark, when now it was the main source of comfort. She sighed to herself. Annalise could run, right now, and never look back...but she didn't want to. Not when children's lives were on the line. Not when she selfishly realised she had nothing waiting for her, no one. 

A cold breeze made her shiver and return to reality.

Right, she had gotten distracted again. Annalise turned and closed the truck door gently before hobbling over to the back of the truck. This gravel hurt like a bitch and she winced each time she put her foot down. Then she had to suffer the humiliation of Rebekah watching her in amusement as she tried to climb up into the open container like a beached whale. Small price to pay, right? 

She grunted in pain and rolled over onto her back, directing a glib “I hate you.” at a grinning Rebekah, who had walked over to her and offered her a hand up.

Annalise took it with a quick grin, getting to her feet as she looked around. The coffins were gleaming in the dull moonlight on their respective racks, giving off the same familiar sensation of old magic she had felt at the warehouse, but her attention was drawn to the figure crumpled in the centre of the truck. Stefan wasn’t it? 

He shifted.

Immediately, Rebekah silently directed her to the back of the truck container, to a corner which wasn’t as well lit. She complied and watched as Rebekah sit casually in front of the waking vampire, her back to the opening of the rear of truck. The Original looked as if she'd been sitting there for hours on end, as she boredly inspected her nails, watching as he slowly came into consciousness.

“Oh, he lives.” Rebekah’s sounded borderline disappointed, but she smirked vindictively when Stefan let out a low groan of pain rubbing his neck.

“What happened?” Her smirk didn’t falter at Stefan's question; if anything, it grew wider.

“You took a beating. My brother’s been breaking your neck all afternoon. Quite the temper.”

“Why did he bring us back to Mystic Falls?” Stefan was struggling to get up. Lis noticed the slightest tremor in his voice - he was scared. Had he known the doppelgänger was alive? She wondered why he was so invested in the wellbeing of these teens Klaus was hunting. Maybe they were friends. 

Rebekah scoffed loudly and stood, interrupting Lis' thought process. “You can stop playing dumb now. It didn’t take him long to figure out what you’ve been hiding.” Oh. He _had_ known. That explained Klaus' tone of betrayal then. He must have enjoyed having Stefan with him while he searched for werewolves to turn, only to have realised Stefan had been hiding the fact that his ritual remained incomplete. Annalise's lips thinned grimly. She wondered if he held any guilt towards the werewolves that died due to his secret like Klaus still did. Meaningless loss of life was a sore topic for her. But as Stefan visibly started to panic, eyes darted around in a frenzy suspiciously, Annalise felt sorry for him too. He was protecting people he cared about.

Even now, he was desperately trying to keep his secret. Almost begging her to believe him. “I’m not hiding anything. I’ve done everything Klaus asked me to.”

“No, you just failed to mention that the doppelganger’s still alive.” Rebekah crossed her arms, almost daring him to deny it.

He didn't. His voice turned hard, fearful, and resolute all at once. “Where is Klaus now?” Stefan stood up, and Lis saw from the resigned coiling of his back that he was getting ready to fight. Annalise distantly wondered who she should help. Or whether she should intervene at all. 

Rebekah saw what Annalise saw, but seemed to hate Stefan all the more for it. “With any luck, ripping that cow’s bloody head off.”

Well. Annalise won't deny Rebekah asked for it. Stefan rushed at her in anger no sooner than the hateful words had escaped her mouth, his full body tackle catapulting them both clear out of the back of the truck and landing on the gravel car park with a painful skid. He growled as he pinned Rebekah to the ground in anger.“Where is she? Where’s Elena?”

No, just watching this happen felt wrong. Lis rushed to the opening and jumped down; too distracted to feel the sting of sharp gravel on her feet this time. “Oi! Quit it!” When Stefan’s head whipped around to face her, Rebekah used this opportunity to use her strength and rush them over to the truck, throwing him against it with a _bang_. Rebekah then proceeded to punch him while simultaneously grabbing a crowbar from inside the truck, hooking it around his neck before he recovered and using it to pull him towards her.

“You really love her, don’t you?” 

Rebekah had anger written all over her face as she hissed, but Annalise saw the hurt reflected in her eyes. Stefan did too, and he looked away. 

Oh. He was doing this to protect her. This Elena. Lis watched on, wincing as Rebekah drove the crowbar into his stomach viciously - not exactly what she had in mind when she distracted him. Shit, she was starting to feel bad for the guy. Stefan groaned in pain as he slid down when Rebekah mercilessly dropped him, back squeaking against the truck.

“Consider me jealous.”

Rebekah’s parting words to Stefan were as cold as ice. Annalise thought back to how close the pair had been sitting when she had first entered the Chicago warehouse with Klaus. Maybe Rebekah's anger was justified. She couldn't judge before she knew the whole story. 

Honestly, Lis couldn't say she was shocked at this display; the brutality of the Originals was pretty common knowledge after all...but didn't mean she condoned it either. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she watched Rebekah quickly close the truck, lock it and move towards her, checking her phone. 

She didn't look up as she updated Annalise. "Turns out we're staying a bit longer. There's a werewolf here, and Nik wants to turn him." When Rebekah looked up, she instantly stiffened, realising Annalise's gaze was still flicking between her and the temporarily unconscious vampire slumped next to the truck. “What? I can feel the judgement from a mile away. Like I said, get used to it.” She hissed at Annalise and she walked past her and into the school. Lis frowned, but followed closely behind.

“I’m not judging Bekah, I just feel bad for the guy, is all.” Her reply seemed to have mollified the Original, as Rebekah nodded, slowing down just a bit to let Annalise catch up. Seemed that honesty tended to work well with the siblings. She could work with that. 

Despite the cold school floor being a welcome reprieve for her poor feet, as they passed countless lockers and went through twists and turns down corridors that almost seemed random, Annalise was starting to get tired. She opened her mouth to question the Original, but quickly shut it once more when Rebekah raised a single finger to her lips. There were echoes of a conversation down the corridor, and as they slowly moved closer, she could see a young couple in a loving embrace.

She caught the boy saying, “I’m happy,” while kissing the girl, before they whipped around at the sound of Rebekah's killer heels echoing down the hallway. Rebekah approached them confidently, dramatically.

Lis sighed, walking much, _much_ more awkwardly behind the blonde. As she did, Annalise noticed she was strangely solemn. They seemed happy, truly happy - she hoped that they survived this.

Huh. Well, maybe they might. Judging by the magic they gave off, the girl appeared to be a vampire - a young one; and the boy a recently turned werewolf. 

Rebekah as always, had the first word. “Well, aren't you two cute?”

The girl’s inquisitive but wary voice echoed in the hall, eyes narrowing as she took in Rebekah. “Uh...do we know you?”

“You’re Caroline, Elena’s friend, which makes you Tyler. The werewolf.” Fear overtook the boy's face as he realised the threat in front of him, and Annalise squashed the urge to grab the teens and run. As much as she hated it, she knew that directly going against Klaus would only lead to more death. Lis resorted herself to the idea that all she could do might be to figure out a way to make sure Tyler didn't end up like Klaus's first batch of hybrids. Really dead.

He would like the benefits of not having to turn each full moon...wouldn't he?

Still, guilt pooled thickly at the back of her throat as she watched Caroline put Tyler behind her defensively. “And who are you?”

Rebekah smirked sharply, raising a brow. “I’m the new girl.” She raised her arms, almost inviting Caroline to attack her. 

Caroline was definitely a newbie vampire, there was no way that she was anywhere close to being as strong as Rebekah. She hoped the girl wouldn’t do anything stupid. But then again, people do a lot of stupid things for love. Lis watched Caroline drop into a defensive stance, determination flaring across her face. Rebekah would have to get through her to get to Tyler, and while Tyler's death or un-death may not be preventable, Caroline's certainly was. 

“Wait! Bekah!” The Original vampire paused, giving Lis enough time to raise her hand at Caroline, sending out a concentrated pulse of magic that had her crumpling to the ground in a heap. Rebekah blurred around the unconscious girl to grab Tyler’s arm quickly as he called for Caroline, flashing Lis a proud smirk.

“Look at you, so willing to fight for us already. I had it handled love, but what did you do?” Tyler paused and also looked in her direction, warily watching her as she gently pulled Caroline's body to the wall and propping her up in a comfortable position.

What she says next probably wasn't going to sit well with Rebekah, but she had made up her mind to help these teens in the only way she knew how. “I knew you didn’t need help Bekah; I just didn’t want you to hurt her. I put her into a deep sleep.”

Tyler calmed, looking at her consideringly, while Rebekah's expression expectedly darkened. Lis did realise her actions undermined that of Rebekah's, but she couldn't bring herself to care too much. Lis stood up, passing her a light shrug. “I’m not going to be okay with hurting kids Bekah. Simple as that. Let’s go.”

Rebekah turned away with a huff, dragging Tyler along and expecting her to follow behind. She sighed, sending one last look at the unconscious Caroline again, before jogging to catch up to the pair.

Lis heard Klaus’s muffled echo long before Rebekah burst through the large double doors dragging a very vocal Tyler close behind her. Annalise entered the room too, but lingered unsurely near the entrance, looking around.

There were abandoned plastic cups covering a quarter of the gymnasium, spread out in neurotically straight lines. Colourful streamers, and even toilet rolls decorated the rising bleachers. It seemed they had interrupted a school prank of some sort; a fact that sat significantly with her.

A pair of students stood stock still on the opposite side of the gym. They felt like human kids - not involved in Klaus' sacrificial plan then - but then that begged the question why the girl was incredibly still with one leg raised in the air, and why the boy could be begging her not to drop it. Annalise tore her eyes away from the sight for now, instead focusing on the larger group gathered nearer to the door facing Klaus. 

Three teens surrounded the hybrid in question, all watching him in palpable trepidation. She figured they were who had royally pissed Klaus off, as he had just stopped seething at a small mocha skinned girl with large eyes and curly hair – definitely a Bennett witch, judging by the power coming off her in waves – and looked up at the commotion of Rebekah hauling a struggling Tyler over.

“Hush now,” Rebekah condescendingly pushed the werewolf to Klaus, glancing at the teens. Her face contorted into a hateful scowl as they landed on the other young girl near Klaus; pale and tall with big eyes and pin straight hair – was this the doppelgänger then? Elena? It seemed after her disagreement with Stefan outside, Rebekah held a personal grudge against the girl.

Klaus quirked a lip up when he saw Lis still lingering near the large double gymnasium doors.

“Don’t be shy now love, come closer.” Lis took a few more steps in, squarely meeting the gazes of the two girls and the blond boy. Their eyes were darting between her and Rebekah, obviously wary of whoever associated themselves with Klaus. “This here is my new acquaintance. I picked Lissie up in Chicago. Say hello, Lissie.”

She managed her trademarked awkward smile before Klaus’s hand moved to gesture at Rebekah, “Now, I’d like you all to meet my sister Rebekah. Word of warning…” he smirked, pausing for effect. “She can be quite mean.”

Rebekah rolled her eyes, clearly not amused. “Don’t be an ass.” She pushed Tyler into Klaus' arms. 

“Leave him alone!” The doppelgänger cried out, reaching for her friend now snugly held in a chokehold.

Klaus ignored her yell, watching in amusement as her friends held her back. “I’m going to make this very simple. Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It’s quite horrible actually.”

His voice was casual as he raised his own wrist and bit into it before holding it at Tyler’s mouth and forcing his blood in. Lis knew what happens next. She reminded herself the best she could hope to do was to minimise the casualties. Her fists clenched in frustration, as the boy struggled in the Hybrid's unrelenting grip. Klaus now looked directly at the Bennett as he spoke. “I need you to help Lissie find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler’s sake, you better hurry.”

He punctuated the end of his sentence by breaking Tyler’s neck in a violent twist, drawing horrified gasps of shock from the teens around him. Annaslie's fingernails dug deeper into her palms as Klaus simply smiled wide, eyes sparking cruelly.

Unsure of what to do, she watched silently as Rebekah and Klaus made their way up into the bleachers, talking in low whispers as they watched the blond boy sink to the ground near his now dead friend, with the doppelganger and witch crowding around him. The other two kids still sat a couple metres away – the girls sniffles were echoing through the gymnasium, but they weren't leaving. Annalise guessed they had been compelled not to leave, and the guilt pooled in her stomach grew heavier.

Annalise sighed as she felt the weight of the two Originals looking at her – no doubt Rebekah was telling him about her act of mercy on the young blonde vampire in the corridor outside. She wasn't sorry, but maybe she should've been more subtle about helping out the kids. Well, too late now.

She walked closer to the group of friends huddled around the dead Tyler on the ground as the blond spoke in a mixture of grief and disbelief. “He killed him.”

Lis stepped into the small circle, only to be met by everyone's hateful glares. She simply put her hands up placatingly. “Hey I’m sorry about your friend. I really am.” Sighing, Annalise dropped to to join them, sitting cross-legged on the ground. Their eyes followed her closely as she continued. “I’m new to this; I don’t like unnecessary violence and I certainly don’t like seeing kids get hurt,” She knew Klaus and Rebekah were paying close attention to what she was saying, but she had now committed to her role in making sure no one else died on her watch. She wasn't going to censor herself on their account.

“I don’t agree with this, with what he’s done; but all we can do is make sure he doesn't die. Because your friend isn't dead yet." The tens straightened as Annalise nodded, elaborating on her statement. "Klaus’s blood is turning him into a vampire hybrid as we speak. What we need to do is focus on helping him survive the transition.” She looked up at the tall girl with straight hair, “You’re the doppelganger, Elena, right?”

The girl in question nodded slightly. Annalise moved on to the smaller girl. “That makes you the Bennett witch?”

The young witch’s glare was still severe as she nodded too. “It’s Bonnie. Who are you?”

Lis pressed her glasses further up her nose, passing her a polite smile. “I’m Annalise. Consider me someone pretty well-versed in the art of magic theory. I can help you figure out a way to keep your friends alive.”

"Friends?" All three teens looked at her with varying degrees of confusion.

Seeing their blank faces, Annalise awkwardly scrambled to explain. “I don't know if it's news to you, but Klaus currently also wants to kill Elena because she wasn't supposed to survive the ritual. But, uh...I have a theory that Elena being alive _isn’t_ what’s causing the hybrids to die in transition, and that's kinda what's keeping Klaus from killing her. It’s a long story, but I need your help if you have any information regarding the curse, and what you used to keep her alive.” She crossed her arms, directing her question at the witch as she ended her statement.

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. “How can we trust you?”

Lis clicked her tongue. “You can’t, not really. At the end of the day, I guess I’m with Klaus. I’ve come to terms with the fact that there’s not a lot I can do to stop him. But what I can do is offer better alternatives, reduce the fallout, make sure there’s no collateral damage – that’s all I can do until I stop feeling like I owe him.”

She needed to be brutally honest to make sure the kids knew that she wasn’t going to be able to help, not fully anyway. She needed to make sure that they made their own plans and didn’t rely on her goodwill to keep themselves alive. Bonnie seemed to appreciate the honesty as she nodded back, glare tapering off. Elena and the boy exchanged a glance and when they looked towards her again, there was a little less suspicion in their eyes.

The boy held his hand out. “Matt.”

Lis leaned back after shaking his hand and nodded at him before looking back at Bonnie. “It’s best we get started as soon as possible.”

"Well, I don't think the answer is in how she survived." Bonnie offered uncertainly. "I didn't mess with the ritual itself, but I did use my Ancestor's spell to bind Elena's father's life force to hers." The witch glanced at her friend's downcast expression in concern.

"That would have-" Annalise took a moment, then shook her head, turning to Elena. "I'm sorry for your loss. But I'm sure your father's glad you lived." She passed a small impressed smile to Bonnie. "I agree with you. That spell's familial magic wouldn't have interfered with that of the curse. Though I've gotta say, not a lot of people could pull that off that well. The Bennett blood runs strong in you." 

Bonnie straightened proudly and nodded at her. That had clearly meant a great deal to the young girl. 

A thud echoed around the empty courts as Klaus jumped down from the bleachers and walked towards them with a smile that seemed more threatening than bright, and Rebekah wasn’t far behind him.

"Well, I think that's enough chit chat for now." Right, Annalise sheepishly looked away...It probably hadn't been the best idea to congratulate the witch on outsmarting the Hybrid in front of him. His gaze flashed at her in clear warning before he turned to the young witch. "Go on Bonnie, go and fetch your enchantments and grimoires and what-not and return. I’ll hold on to Elena here, for safe keeping.” Elena nodded at Bonnie in reassurance as Klaus grabbed her arm, and surprisingly Bonnie also glanced towards Lis.

Lis flashed her a tight-lipped smile, to which the girl nodded. She seemed to get what Lis was trying to say. She'd try her best. Bonnie left with Matt soon after, letting the doors shut loudly behind them.

Annalise turned back to see Rebekah coming up to Elena, leaning in to study the nervous teen closely, almost cruelly. “So this is the latest doppelgänger.” Rebekah leaned back, smug. “The original one was much prettier.” Lis found a small grin tugging at her lips remembering Rebekah insult her about her height when they met not even two full days ago. 

Elena looked insulted but looked at Klaus as he spoke, he was smirking at Rebekah's immature jab. “Enough Rebekah. Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?”

Rebekah sighed, but still moved over to where Tyler was laying lifelessly, before grabbing a limp arm and using it to drag him along the floor petulantly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Klaus lean to whisper in Elena’s ear. “Just ignore her, petty little thing.”

Annalise found herself grinning once more at the sibling's antics as she made to follow Rebekah out of the gym. She paused almost immediately when Klaus called out after her. “Where are you going love?”

Lis turned to look at him before sarcastically gesturing at his sister's retreating back. “Where do you think?”

“I would much rather you stayed here with us Lis. After all, I wouldn’t want you helping out the collateral, would I?”

His brows were high and amused, but challenging. Shit, he was still annoyed at her. Annalise had _known_ what she said would come back to bite her in the butt. At least she can look after Elena better here. She nodded to both Klaus and Elena wordlessly as she moved to sit down at the bleachers. Propping her sore feet up, she started massaging them while keeping a keen eye on the duo. As soon as Elena moved to crouch near the sobbing girl and the boy who was still comforting her, the girl put down her foot and collapsed to the floor, thankfully, with no repurcussions. Lis' mouth pressed into a grim line as she heard her whisper words of encouragement to the human teens.

They didn't deserve this. 

Klaus made his way over and sat down next to her, glancing down at the foot she was massaging. Lis didn't miss his lip quirk down in disgust. Good; this is his fault, so she hoped he was uncomfortable.

When he spoke, he still didn't look at her directly, opting to look straight ahead instead as he spoke lowly. “I don’t expect you to be okay with what I do, frankly I don’t care what you think about it,” His bright blue green eyes looked almost black in the dim light, promising danger when they finally met hers. “Just don’t get in my way and do what I tell you to do.”

She frowned but nodded nonetheless. “I’ll try.” Annalise didn't want to antagonise him further. 

Klaus looked away again, but his threatening words still carried. “Make sure you do.”

The doors of the gym clicked open slowly, as Stefan stepped cautiously in. His eyes travelled the expanse of the gym, before training on Klaus almost immediately. Lis raised a brow when he didn't even spare a glance at the girl he loved. Even as Elena stood up and called his name, his eyes didn’t falter.

“Klaus.”

“Come to save your damsel, mate?” Klaus’s voice was low and...angry. He spoke suspiciously through a hooded gaze trained carefully on the tall dark blond man. Annalise wondered exactly what had happened between the two men for Klaus to feel so betrayed.

She watched silently as Stefan walked closer to Klaus, his gaze wide and pleading. “I came to ask for your forgiveness. And pledge my loyalty.”

“Well, you broke that pledge once already.” Klaus dismissed him easily.

“Elena means nothing to me anymore.” Stefan was quick to reassure Klaus, going so far as to glance coldly at a distraught Elena before turning back to meet Klaus’s now amused gaze. “And whatever you ask of me, I will do.”

Klaus stared at Stefan for a long moment before smirking. He stood and stepped casually down the bleachers on to the polished court, approaching the two cowering kids in the middle of the gymnasium next to Elena.

“Fair enough. Let’s drink on it.”

Nope - no. Not happening. Not the _fucking_ kids.

Lis got up quickly, avoiding Stefan’s curious gaze and running around Klaus to Elena’s side. She pressed him back, away from the children. “Klaus please-”

A single warning finger came up to silence her as he turned around to face Stefan. “Kill them.” Klaus gestured at the horrified kids on the ground. “What are you waiting for? Kill them.”

Elena’s head was already shaking, trying to reassure her boyfriend. “No! Stefan, don’t. He’s not going to hurt me. He already said-”

Lis felt Klaus’s whack before she even registered it was coming – she had moved in the way of his anger towards the young girl before she had even thought about it. She felt herself fly back into soft arms, her vision had gone white, the pain was dull, and everything was muted before her hearing and her vision can back to focus.

Annalise opened her eyes to see a blurry view of Elena on the ground next to her, cradling her head. The young girl was looking away, distracted by the sounds of a nearby fight, but looked back at Lis as she started to sit up with a groan. She appeared relieved to see Lis had recovered, and immediately pressed her glasses into her hand. Giving her a small smile of gratitude, Lis got to her feet, pushing her throbbing cheek to the back of her mind while sliding her glasses on, only to find her vision was still a bit distorted.

Dammit. One of her lenses had cracked _._

Huffing in anger Lis positioned herself slightly in front of Elena, watching the altercation happening in front of her. Klaus had managed to hold Stefan up off the ground in a choke hold, Stefan's feet scrabbled for purchase on the polished wooden floors. Annalise grimaced empathetically, remembering the unpleasant experience while rubbing unconsciously at her own neck.

Klaus was seething in anger, his eyes boring deep into Stefan's own as he growled. “She means nothing to you? Yet you try to come to her aid at the first sign of danger. Your lies just keep piling up.” Klaus looked strangely sad, hurt, even. She wasn't sure. 

Stefan was much easier to read. He was struggling, clearly desperate. He was losing hope, having resorted to begging with eyes wide. “Let her go! I’ll do whatever you want, you have my word.”

“Your word doesn’t mean much. I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this…” Klaus growled low, with each word he enunciated, he squeezed Stefan’s throat tighter and tighter. Choked gasps filled echoed around them.

He brought Stefan’s head closer and looked deeper into his eyes. Elena grasped her arm in alarm and squeezed in clear distress trying to get past her, but Annalise held her back. She wasn’t going to let Klaus hurt anyone else. She steeled her spine and watched with hard eyes as Klaus started to take someone’s free will away.

“Stop fighting.”

“Don’t do this, don’t do this.” The whisper was desperate as it fell from Stefan’s lips.

Klaus appeared affronted and upset. “I didn’t _want_ to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I’m going to have to take it.”

“Don’t, don’t-” Stefan’s eyes were wide, horrified and hopeless as his hands clutched at the arm squeezing his neck.

Klaus continued. “You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just _obey_.”

Satisfied with his compulsion, Klaus let the young man go, making no effort to move away. Stefan remained still too, though his eyes were now cloudy and unfocused.

“No. Stefan.” Elena’s voice was a low despondent whisper. Lis turned, holding the girl's hand to her to offer her even the smallest semblance of comfort. Lis's jaw tightened in anger, causing her cheek to smart from Klaus’s slap as she watched with narrow eyes.

“Now, kill them, Ripper.” The Hybrid whispered the last word, but it sounded deafening in the silence as he gestured at the trembling children on the ground.

Black veins crawled up Stefan’s cheeks and bled bright red into his dark hungry eyes as they focused on the petrified teenagers. He flexed his jaw as if in preparation. Oh hell no, she was _not_ letting this happen.

Lis went to raise her hand and to intervene, but Klaus was there in front of her, anticipating her resistance. Because of this distraction, in a blink of an eye Stefan’s face was buried in the other young sobbing girl’s neck.

Annalise swore as she pushed her magic at the hybrid, catapulting him into the far wall with a satisfying wall-shaking thud. In the same motion, she raised her other arm, freezing Stefan in place - jaw still locked on the girl's neck. There was no way she could risk throwing Stefan the same way she had done Klaus – that would probably cause fatal damage to the girl's neck.

Untangling her hand from Elena’s, Annalise ran to the girl, still slowly bleeding out, before carefully detaching her from Stefan’s gaping maw. She then hauled the young girl’s body a safe distance away from Stefan and laid both her palms on the sides of the girls neck. In the background, she heard the clattering stone and brick as Klaus brushed off the dust and pieces of wall sticking to his shoulders.

Annalise made sure not to lose concentration on the spell keeping Stefan frozen, and tried to ignore the heavy, crunching footsteps of the angry hybrid coming her way.

Drawing on the same healing magic that had once healed her childhood friend, she shut her eyes tight and felt for the girl’s life. It was weak, thready, slipping through her fingers rapidly.

Bracing herself, she willed it to be stronger, to resist the pull and forced the girl’s life back into her body, channeling her magic and reaching for that familiar tug.

Annalise felt the girl’s heartbeat again, weak at first, but steadily growing louder. She was safe for now. Klaus’s angry footsteps had stopped, so when she opened her eyes with a small peaceful smile, she wasn’t expecting to have the hybrid a couple inches from her face, staring at her in awe, hidden in a great deal more of annoyance.

Lis jerked backwards, startled.

"Gah, _what the fuck."_


	5. The Reckoning Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably swearing, and not Beta read.  
> Update: Revised  
> Enjoy!!

“Gah, what the _fuck_!”

In the same second Lis startled and fell back, losing concentration, her magic holding Stefan frozen released. Faster than the eye could track, Stefan _moved,_ appearing in front of the other human boy trying to scramble away with a chilling snarl. The boy screamed, stumbling back, but Stefan was able to seize him by the shoulder easily to pull his prey towards him. Not on her watch. No way.

“No!” 

With a violent jerk of her wrist Stefan fell to the ground, neck angled awkwardly indicating his temporary death. The boy scrambled out of Stefan's limp grip, clearly terrified out of his mind.

Annalise herself was having trouble catching her breath, remembering the moment back at the warehouse in Chicago when Klaus had snapped his neck with such _ease_. The violent _crack_ had echoed around the gymnasium much like it had back then, bringing to the surface memories she had pushed to the back of her mind. She felt herself start to panic again, being the one responsible for his temporary death this time, but forcefully swallowed the lump in her throat as she turned her head to face them.

Elena and Klaus were watching her with wide eyes.

Annalise wasn't able to meet their eyes for long. Swallowing once more, she gestured to the petrified boy to come over. He approached hesitantly, not out of trust, but out of the sheer fear reflected in his eyes at how easily she had brought death to someone. Same, kid. Same.

His legs shook as he neared, falling to his knees near the girl still situated in Annalise's lap. They boy's eyes grew wide as they were drawn to Lis' glowing hands around the girl's neck, watching her skin knit back together effortlessly. Klaus and Elena neared curiously, then feeling the weight of the boy's questioning look on her shoulders, she looked up at him with a smile as reassuring as she make it. "She'll be fine."

The last of the wound stitched together, and Annalise gently set the girl's head back on the ground. Immediately, the boy grabbed the girl's hand tightly, his knuckles whitening. Ignoring all their gazes, Lis placed a flat palm on the unconscious girl’s forehead and murmured under her breath. “ _Surgo._ ”

The girl shot up, gasping loudly, before collapsing immediately into her friend's hold. Her heaving sobs and the boy's low words of reassurance echoed through the empty courts as he hugged her closer. He was looking at her, Elena and Klaus in anger now. Annalise distantly wondered what he thought was happening here. What his explanation for tonight was. Either way, his weak glare directed at Klaus, then at Stefan still collapsed on the floor showed he wasn't forgetting anytime soon.

When Annalise looked at Klaus, and his hard glare back at the boy that made him cower immediately - her lips curled down in realisation, feeling her stomach drop. There was no way Klaus was going to spare these kids. Not according to the stories she'd heard about him. These kids had their whole lived ahead of them...she couldn't let her past repeat. Klaus wasn't going to listen to her though, hell, he'd probably kill the kids in front of her for so blatantly going against his warning of not interfering.

He might accept an exchange, however. But only having the clothes on her back, and a pretty messed up past, Annalise had nothing to offer...but her powers. Her powers that had incited such awe and curiosity in him. Annalise hesitated. Did she really want to be tied indefinitely to this...clearly unhinged immortal? Looking at the teens cowering on the ground helped her decision. Her life was already a sob story - nothing good was happening to her anytime soon.

All she could see in her future realistically was a bunch of people always chasing her for her screwed up magic. 

Reaching a decision, she finally got to her feet, brushing the dust off her knees as she looked at Klaus. His green stare was now drilling into her in curiosity, like she was a specimen of some kind. A creature not yet known to him, clearly intrigued, and calculating, at her display of effortless power. Maybe her bargain might work.

She took a bracing breath before letting her voice carry in what she hoped was a strong manner, over the sniffles of the girl on the ground. “I need you to compel these kids, make them forget this horrible night, and send them home to sleep in their beds. Safe.”

Klaus simply quirked an eyebrow at her, lips lifting in a playful smirk as though her demand was amusing. “And why should I do that?”

She felt Elena's confused stare sink into the side of her head. The young girl probably had no idea why she was risking Klaus's anger by trying to keep to strangers safe. If she was being honest, Annalise was already regretting speaking up, but she knew she's only regret it more if these teens met the same horrible end as...

Annalise sighed tiredly and shifted her weight. “You just saw how powerful I am. You do this, and you have my word I’ll work for you until you decide to let me go, instead of me deciding when I'm done owing you.”

Though Klaus's face lit up victoriously, his eyes narrowed.

“That’s a high price for the lives of two children you don’t know.” He said, making his way over to Lis, sharp eyes not missing the way she shifted uncomfortably on her feet. She had to appear more sure, because Lis had no doubt Klaus could sniff out discomfort and weakness as easy as a shark could sniff out blood in the water. As easy as a vampire, looking for a warm meal. Lis straightened, moving so she was standing between Klaus and the kids who had quietened fearfully. Annalise was bargaining for their lives, it made sense they were paying close attention.

Annalise shrugged, making sure to look directly at his speculative gaze. “I don’t care. My life’s already fucked anyways. If I’m not being used by you, it’ll be somebody else." She used her head to gesture behind her. "These kids don’t deserve to anything that happened here today. They aren’t a part of your vendetta, just please,” running a tired hand through her hair, she looked back towards Klaus. “Let them go.”

Klaus' nod was accompanied by a cunning glint in his eyes as he approached to shake her hand. Flashing him a taut smile through thin displeased lips, Annalise shook his hand firmly. No doubt he knew he had just got the better end of the deal. But Lis had accepted her bargaining skills were shit anyway - her magic had probably hurt more people than helped, so if she could use it in exchange for a singular good deed, she certainly wouldn't call it a loss.

“You have yourself a deal then, love; your employ for the small price of making sure these young cherubs find their way back to their beds tonight.”

Lis dipped her head wordlessly as she stepped to the side, watching closely as Klaus moved past her to crouch in front of the frozen pair. When he compelled them, Annalise noticed he used her exact words - to forget this traumatic night, and go home to their beds safely.

That...said something about his character. It said that he keeps his deals, to a T. 

She felt her glare towards him soften, feeling strangely reassured. If she couldn't trust him, then maybe she could trust his word when it mattered. 

Once Klaus had compelled both of them Lis moved back next to Elena, crossing her arms and avoiding general eye contact. She could just feel Klaus and Elena itching to ask her about the power she exhibited, but everyone was thankfully distracted when a low groan escaped Stefan. Annalise immediately held Elena back by the shoulder on reflex before she could run to the side of a feral vampire, now under the control of an infamously bad Original - boyfriend or not - and watched Klaus walk confidently over and rouse him. Stefan climbed slowly to his feet on shaky legs, ignoring Klaus' arm offered to him. His eyes avoided Elena's shamefully, and quaked when Klaus clapped a strong had on his shoulder.

“It’s always nice to see a vampire in his true element. The species has become such a broody lot.”

There was blood flowing down Stefan's chin in tiny rivulets, staining his teeth, but his eyes looked dead and haunted. He spared Lis a single glance and nodded lightly in veiled gratitude. Lis reciprocated his gesture. He hadn't wanted to hurt the kids, and she was glad he didn't have any ill will towards her for stopping him. It certainly released the guilt she carried for snapping his neck.

Shrugging her hand off, Elena still took a step forward, her mouth curled in a furious scowl at Klaus's casual remark. “No, _you_ did this to him.”

Her bitter words certainly had no effect on the Original. If anything, Klaus looked more entertained. “I just invited him to the party love. He’s the one that's dancing on the table.”

“Yeah? That’s because you compelled him to, dipshit. Try putting that in your bullshit analogy.” Lis rolled her eyes at Klaus's exaggeratedly insulted gesture of ‘Who? Me?', complete with a dramatic hand on his heart. She didn't miss Stefan and Elena exchange an uneasy glance. Maybe they thought she was close enough to him to engage in silly banter. Too bad. She had meant to insult him.

Before Annalise could retort back, Rebekah burst through the doors again - this time truly fuming.

“Where is it?!” She strode angrily over to Elena, hissing in her face. “ _Where’s_ my necklace?”

“What are you talking about?” Klaus sounded as puzzled as she felt as he moved towards his little sister, clenching a phone tightly in her hand.

Lis glanced at Elena’s confused expression. She didn't know what Rebekah was on about either, but she could try to make an educated guess. After all, there was only one necklace that had been mentioned in the last few days.

Annalise leaned closer to look at the photo on the phone that Rebekah held out to them. 

There was a beautiful circular silver necklace, complete with intricate carvings and a small gem sitting prettily on Elena's neck as she smiled at the camera in the photo, surrounded by the Bennett witch, and her blonde friend Lis had put to sleep in the outside corridor.  
Rebekah pointed to it, angrily, showing Klaus too. “She has my necklace, look.”

Klaus took the phone into his own hands, zooming in on the necklace before looking up at Stefan and Elena, eyes narrowed in an accusing frown. “Well, well, more lies.”

“Where is it?” Rebekah hissed at Elena, baring her canines which had elongated into deadly fangs. Black veins crawled threateningly up her cheeks into her eyes, as she glared at the young teen, waiting impatiently for an explanation.

“I don't have it anymore.” Elena’s voice was small, defensive. It sounded as though she was speaking the truth.

“You're lying!” Rebekah spat at the young girl again. The ferocity behind her words didn’t mask Rebekah's eyes tearing up; Lis didn't fail to notice this, and apparently neither did Klaus. Their eyes met, and a strange mutual understanding passed through them. Rebekah was hurt - this wouldn't end well.

They were right. The next moment, Rebekah _lunged_ at Elena, intent on sinking her fangs into the girl, but Klaus had already pushed her away, positioning himself between the angry Original vampire and the frightened doppelganger. Lis had also moved to his side on reflex, standing slightly behind him. She held Elena’s hand behind her, facing an angry Rebekah as Klaus tried to handle her.

She knew Stefan wasn't the biggest threat right now - she ignored his presence for the moment, watching closely as Klaus grabbed Rebekah's shoulders and pushed her back.

“Knock it off!” 

“Make her tell me where it is, Nik!” 

"Okay, just stop!" He eased his grip on her lightly, and stepped away when Rebekah stopped struggling all together in defeat. Klaus sighed, bringing his palms together at his lips as if in prayer, and turning to focus on Elena.

Annalise noticed Rebekah's gaze catch how tightly Elena held on to Lis’s hand as both Originals turned to face the young girl, and how the blonde scowled harder. Her attention was drawn to Nik, leaning closer to Elena threateningly.

“Where's the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest.” Klaus's tone was low, carrying a clear warning.

Shifting her head to turn to the girl slightly behind her, Lis saw Elena inhale quickly in fear as she replied; “I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it.”

It was as if she had said a magic word. Immediately the Originals's eyes lit up in recognition and understanding. Really? One mention of this Katherine, and no more questions asked? Well, Annalise wasn't exactly complaining.

“Katerina. Of course. Well, that's unfortunate." Klaus closed his eyes turning away, exhaling deeply. "If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch and Lissie here, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?”

There was definite anger and impatience in his tone now as he strode through the plastic cups filled with water lining the gymnasium floor - honestly _such_ an unoriginal prank - kicking them to the side carelessly. He hit a button on the table he had been approaching - a loud buzzer sounded as a bright red LED display switched on behind them, and started ticking down from 20.00 minutes. 

Annalise exchanged a worried glance with Elena as Klaus strode towards them again - his amused smirk was long gone. Lis's fingers fidgeted as the suspenseful quiet filled with the ominous ticking of the clock counting down. It felt as though the ticking had synced up with her pulse; with every beep she felt her heart beat faster. Fuck, she had forgotten how much she hated high-stress situations.

Elena gripped her hand tighter as Klaus walked over to Stefan. It was clear that he had hoped that he'd been forgotten in the sudden dilemma of the missing necklace - his face fell as Klaus approached to look deep into his eyes once more. “Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again." Klaus gripped Stefan's shoulder tighter, making sure to look him right in his eyes. "Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to.” He ended his compulsion by directing a wicked grin at Elena, who had started begging again in fear.

“No, Klaus! Don't do this to him!”

Klaus walked over and grabbed Lis’s wrist, detaching it from Elena’s desperate grip while ignoring the young girl's whimpered pleas. “And I can’t have you interfering again love, it just won’t do.” Lis glared at him and tried to wrench her arm free to reach back around for Elena. 

“No, I’m not letting you hurt a little girl Klaus, let me _go!”_

She tried to resist his bruising grip as he lead her away from a sobbing Elena. No. She wasn't just gonna let him do this. Planting her feet on the ground, she pulled back on the hand that Klaus had gripped tightly, raising the other hand at Klaus - palm facing him threateningly.

He paused, narrowing his eyes and immediately realising the same gesture that had sent him into a wall. "You hurt me, and Rebekah will rip out that precious little girl's throat, then yours, before you blink. I suggest you don't do anything stupid, love." 

_Fuck._ A quick glance to her right showed Rebekah giving her a look of warning. Klaus wasn’t bluffing.

Her magic was fixed, but still unfamiliar after not using it for so long. There was no way she could react fast enough. Annalise's brown eyes met Elena's and hoped she conveyed her promise to return her time ran out. Elena nodded slowly in understanding with trembling lips.

Klaus called back over his shoulder to Stefan as he resumed dragging Lis behind him, towards the exit. “No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine.”

Lis saw Elena’s eyes widen in fear once more before she found herself being pulled down the dark corridor outside. Annalise didn't miss Rebekah's smug smile directed at Elena as she looked back, before she turned to follow close behind the pair. 

Kid drama and petty rivalries? Amusing in the moment, but right now, she could care less - her wrist was starting to sprain in Klaus's hold, dammit. Reminiscent of Klaus's first time holding her wrist in a tight grip, she started whacking at his arm - it was effortlessly ignored. It would have been so much more effective with a vodka bottle. 

She didn’t stop whacking Klaus’s arm until he released her after travelling down a couple corridors. Rebekah stopped behind them, watching their interaction with an amused curl to her lips.

“Klaus she’s just a girl, please you can’t-” Lis visibly stopped herself, leaning against the wall of lockers behind her in exhaustion, letting her head drop back. “Wait, I forget, you don’t care.”

He smiled at her thinly in agreement. He didn't move to contradict her, so Annalise kept talking. “You saw what I can do,” her voice cracked, she saw Rebekah straighten in her periphery. “You saw how easily I could hurt you. What’s stopping me from going there right now, huh? Rebekah's far enough away from Elena for me to stop her.”

Klaus stooped low, right into her personal space. She was uncomfortable meeting his cold glare but still met it head on. She wasn't going to let him scare her into submission. “Because love, you gave me your word that you will remain in my employ until I see fit to release you. I own you, so do as I say or there will be consequences.”

His words made her anger simmer under her skin, she was sure the crack in one of her lenses reflected her fury. “How _fuckin’_ dare you-” The fluorescent hallway light above them splintered, a deep crack running straight down the middle.

Klaus stepped away slightly, as if he just figured out he shouldn’t goad her temper. He glanced down at his watch, changing the topic. “Rebekah, go to the werewolf, keep an eye on him and the other vampire and make sure they don’t run off before the time limit is up.” Rebekah nodded, threw a small smile at Lis, then disappeared down different corridor.

Klaus looked towards her again and then strangely didn't meet her eyes. Instead his gaze had been drawn to her cheek. As she tried to scowl at him, she was reminded of the large tender bruise stretching from her jaw from when she intercepted his blow on Elena - rolling her eyes, she concentrated on filling the area of her injury with her magic, feeling its swollen surface reduce and fade back into unblemished skin. His eyes had widened in intrigue. 

Feeling his gaze stay on her in curiosity, she focused on the crack in her lenses. The double vision was beginning to give her a headache. Stepping to the side, she whispered. “ _Sarcio._ ” The crack in her glasses fused following a pinprick of light.

Turning back to face Klaus fully, she levelled him with her best glare. His eyes still lingered on her lenses in subtle wonder before they snapped to hers at her sardonic tone. "So, what can I do that's within your bullshit rules, boss?"

He simply straightened arrogantly with a smirk. “You have about ten minutes left to figure out how to help my hybrids transition, and to save Elena, of course." Klaus moved his hands behind his back and looked down at her. "If you want to save her, I suggest you get to work.”

Sighing, she rolled her eyes and ran both her hands through her hair, tugging stressfully at her scalp. “I need Bonnie, and a _lot_ more information to do anything else. I'm running blind here. Plus, your stupid time-limit definitely isn’t helping.” She scowled at Klaus who just shot her a sarcastic smile.

Chewing her lip, she moved to the window overlooking the quad outside. “I’ll go to Bonnie, she might not know what information she’s looking for, maybe I could help her there.”

“Great idea Lissie, just one small problem, do you know where the little Bennett is?” Klaus's voice was coated in smugness, as was his smirk, but that dropped quickly when she flashed him an proud and secretive smile of her own. “What?” He was missing something, and he clearly hated not knowing everything. She felt self-satisfied at finding one of his buttons, but chose to indulge in his question. 

“I’m no ordinary magic user Klaus. It’s like I have this insanely strong connection to the magic in everything around me. Because of that, I can tell magical things apart in my surroundings.” Annalise lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the ground, leaned back against the wall, relaxed. “Bonnie’s easily one of the most supernatural creatures living in Mystic Falls, and she has an obvious energy signature. It’s also a good thing that I made note of her signature when I met her, so I know what to feel for, if that makes sense.”

She mumbled with her eyes closed, but her pupils darted around furiously under her eyelids as if she was physically looking for Bonnie.

Despite the fact her eyes were closed, she was able to see a bright glow surrounding Klaus next to her, and a strong but dimmer glow in a few classrooms down. That was Rebekah then – it made sense that she was with two smaller and weaker signatures; Caroline and Tyler because one was very dim. Tyler was currently in transition, dying, until they were able to figure out how to keep him alive, at least. That thought spurred her back into motion, spreading her awareness as far as she could with a low wince.

This was the most magic she had down in a while, and she was fresh out of captivity. Annalise knew she was going to regret this tomorrow.

A medium glow with a tiny one caught her attention as it shifted a few hallways away – that was Stefan and Elena in the gym, that meant they were still safe. This was good, she still had time.

Reaching out further she stretched herself mentally and exhaled as she came across a familiar signature. A witch signature – it had a more earthy feeling to it than the others - it was near a large body of water within the school a fair way away.

Gotcha.

Annalise's eyes snapped open and she jumped up to motion at Klaus, who was leaning against the opposite wall in the hallway, watching intrigued as she had located the witch. “She’s at the school pool! In that direction.” She gestured wildly to her left, choosing to ignore how his eyes glinted sharply in interest again. “How much time do we have left?”

Klaus checked his watch. “Just under five minutes love, it’s best we move.”

She nodded, immediately started sprinting in the general direction she saw Bonnie’s signature in with and felt Klaus close on her heels. The strong smell of chlorine assaulted her nose after a few minutes before she registered the sound of echoing voices carry their way.

Klaus grabbed her arm and quietly moved her into a wall of lockers so they’d be obstructed from view.

“What are you doing, we’re wasting time-” she whispered.

“Quiet.” hissed Klaus, his eyes were focused on the conspicuously wet pair of teens walking down the hallway.

They paused. She heard Matt speak up, turning to address Bonnie. “She said she had a message for you.”

“Me?” Bonnie was skeptical.

Matt made an affirmative sound. “From the witch that put the hybrid curse on Klaus.”

Lis looked up at Klaus as they listened to Matt continue, she tilting her head slightly in the direction of the two teens to hear better. 

“She said Elena shouldn’t have survived Klaus’s ritual. The hybrids can’t transition because Elena’s still alive.”

Annalise's brow immediately furrowed in confusion as her lips thinned in thought. That didn’t make sense – sure the Original witch might not have been around for the discovery of modern magical science theory but surely she’d know that Elena’s recovery wasn’t the problem here.

She met Klaus’s eyes once more, which had focused in on her own confusion before it had melted into comprehension, hurt, then anger.

Annalise was still confused, however, but she caught the tail-end of Matt’s sad question when Klaus stepped into the light leaning casually against a door, pulling her with him. “He’s going to die, isn’t he?”

Klaus, apparently one for dramatic timing - spoke up here, making the teens whip around. “I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Given the choice; doppelgänger or hybrid, I go hybrid every time.”

“Wait what? I’m lost,” Lis said into the silence his words brought, since Bonnie and Matt looked as uncertain as she was. “Why do you need to choose between Tyler and Elena?”

Klaus spun around and started dragging Lis down the corridor towards the gym with Bonnie and Matt following close behind. “Because the Original witch cursed me – if she wants Elena dead, it means-”

Everything clicked in to place in Lis’s mind. “Wait, Klaus! I had it wrong! I thought it had been her death that had contributed to the ritual, but it was her _blood._ Elena’s supernatural blood was running through your body when you finally transitioned into a hybrid. That means her blood is integral to the whole procedure; it’s the incendiary agent that stabilises the transitioning process, so they don’t like- spontaneously combust! I’m so stupid, why didn’t I realise earlier!”

Klaus had paused, watching her as she came the realisation with understanding in his eyes.

A chilling scream filling the air followed closely by a loud growl made everyone pause – a quick glance at Klaus’s watch showed that their time was up.

Their eyes met again and widened, she saw him realise that the only thing allowing him to make hybrids was in danger, and she just couldn’t let that child die. A mutual understanding passed between them in a split second once more. Lis stepped back, still holding Klaus’s hand and focused on where Elena’s signature was – it was easier the second time. She grabbed it, then just _pulled_ them to it.

Matt and Bonnie watched in shock as the pair blinked out of existence right in front of them with a small spark of silver light. “Uh…you can’t do that, too right?”

Matt looked to Bonnie who was still trying to process someone disappearing into air in front of them.

She shook her head slowly, eyes still looking at the empty space.

"Uh...no." 

-

They blinked into existence in a darkened cafeteria – Klaus stumbled, disoriented, but Lis was already moving towards the door. Elena wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“She’s here, she should be here. I pulled us to her.”

Elena burst through the double doors that Lis was walking to, and pressed it shut behind her, breathing hard. 

Lis lifted an eyebrow – well that’s definitely going to help. Let’s hope bloodthirsty ripper Stefan's scared of closed doors. Or at least had the decency to knock. 

Klaus was in front of Elena, recovered from the disorientation of teleportation, grabbing her neck threateningly before she could take a step forwards with a devious smile. “We gotta stop meeting like this.”

Lis huffed in annoyance, officially sick of Klaus choking people. “Hey Klaus, cool line and all but could you let go of her neck? I feel a very unstable vampire coming our way, so best we have all-hands-on deck, right?”

Klaus looked at her with an annoyed glare before motioned Lis over as he took Elena to a darkened corner of the room. Elena immediately fell into Lis' side in a trembling mess, but Klaus lifted Lis’s chin up, forcing her to look at him over the head of the girl shivering in fear, curling into her comforting arms.

“Stay out of the way of this love. If you get in the way, I kill everyone here, including any stray children I find, and take Elena very far away, understand?” Annalise's eyes met his squarely as he growled lowly. 

Annalise thinned her lips and glared, but bobbed her slightly head in agreement. Elena burrowed deeper into her hug.

They stood and watched quietly as Stefan zoomed in through the doors and dropped to the ground in the darkened cafeteria, clearly struggling to keep his predatory nature under control. He wheezed out a few laboured breaths with his teeth clenched. Annalise watched as his eyes shot to the cleaners cart a few feet in front of him, before he rushed to it, grabbing a wooden broom and wasting no time in breaking the handle in half over his knee.

Lis saw where this was going and tried to cover Elena’s peeking eyes. She saw him brace, then impale himself through his stomach with a wet bloody grunt, causing him to bend over doubled in pain.

She watched Klaus choose this moment to step out of the shadows. His British drawl echoed around the empty cafeteria.

“Now this is fascinating. I've never seen this before. The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl.” He motioned Lis to bring Elena over and she complied slowly, ready to defend the girl if necessary. “Why don't you turn it off?”

“No!” Stefan’s reply was immediate, there was no doubt in his eyes.

Klaus casually walked closer and sat down on a nearby table, his lay arms relaxed on his legs. “Come on~” He stretched out, “Your humanity is killing you.” Klaus’s voice was filled with humour, as if joking with an old friend. “All the guilt must be exhausting. Turn it off.” He shrugged as if the choice was easy.

“No.” It was a growl this time, filled with pain.

Elena stepped out of Lis’s arms, reaching out to him. “Stefan...” her tone was pleading. Desperate.

“You're strong. But you're not that strong.” Klaus walked over to Stefan and slid the makeshift stake out of Stefan’s stomach and threw it to the side, ignoring Stefan's pained yell. “Turn. It. Off.”

There was a pause and he looked at Klaus; Elena frowned in concern reaching out once more when Stefan growled and pushed Klaus away with a loud yell. “NO!”

Klaus rushed Stefan into a wall pressing him into the brick behind him, and _roared_. “TURN IT OFF!”

Lis looked away, reminding herself that she couldn’t intervene.

Stefan choked, tearing up; but remained in place even after Klaus released him. His eyes grew empty. He slumped blankly against the brick wall.

“What did you do?” Elena breathed out, horrified. The young girl trembled in her arms.

Klaus’s eyes were solemn as he looked back at the pair. “I fixed him.” Elena’s breathing stuttered and Lis’s hand shot out to hold hers in support, pulling the younger girl behind her when Klaus strode forwards towards them again.  
“But I think a test is in order, don't you?”

He stopped behind them, hands on Elena’s shoulders and moving her to Lis’s side, presenting her like a prize to Stefan.  
“Ripper. Perhaps you'd like a drink…from the doppelgänger's neck?”

Elena was shaking her head in denial but even she could see Stefan’s face change into that of a predator; there was hunger and a promise of death in his eyes as black veins crawled up his cheeks slowly. A slight smirk grew on his face as he looked at Elena in clear interest to satiate his hunger. Like she was nothing more than his next meal.

He lunged but Lis was ready – Klaus’s consequences be damned.

She held her hand up and muttered _“Obsillo.”_ grimly.

Her magic hit the charging vampire in the chest with a pulse. Stefan’s body froze and seized in mid-air, stilling before falling to the ground with multiple cracks echoing through the dark cafeteria.

Klaus reached out and grabbed her arm in the pathetically familiar bruising grip. She could see how angry he was by the way his other hand clenched and relaxed into a fist multiple times, as if physically holding himself back from ripping her head off. “I told you not to intervene. What did you _do_?”

Scoffing, Lis wrenched her hand out of his grip. She wasn’t having it, not this time. She turned to a shocked Elena. “Don’t worry, I only broke his bones, mainly the vertebrae around his neck. He’s just unconscious, but we should leave before he wakes up.”

Klaus grabbed her again as she was pushing a shocked Elena towards the door.  
She shook him off, _again_ , annoyed.

“What Klaus? You don’t want to hear that I wouldn’t stand by and let a girl get slaughtered? _Fine_. I protected your investment, better?” She shoved him in the chest, giving him a scathing glare, before turning on her heel once more and taking Elena’s hand, using it to pull the shaking girl out the doors and down the dark corridor.

Klaus was furious, she could tell by his heavy footfalls, but she could care less. 

She was seething – taking someone’s free will away, making them attack a loved one?

Lis had prepared herself for the blood and gore, the needless violence, but _not_ for mental and emotional torture. It was all she could do to hope she wasn’t in too deep. To make sure she didn't lose herself. Annalise couldn't even convince herself staying behind had been a bad idea - had she not been here...she shuddered to think what might've happened to Elena. 

Annalise lead them down the corridor towards the classroom where she felt Rebekah was, along with a steadily weakening Tyler, and Caroline. She sped up. They needed to test their doppelgänger theory fast, before any lives were lost tonight.

“Elena,” the girl looked at her, her eyes were still full of despair but at least now they looked focused. She didn’t want to mince her words. “The hybrid curse isn’t fully lifted, not yet. We have a working theory that it’s your blood that helps the hybrid transition process complete.”

Lis felt so much pity for the tall girl, curling in on herself in understanding. “I’ll give my blood to Tyler, if it’ll help him. I’ll do anything.”

Her voice was so quiet. Lis smiled sadly and squeezed the girl’s hand while Klaus remained suspiciously silent behind them, simmering in his anger.

“You know what this means, right?” Elena stayed quiet so Lis continued in a low voice. “It means Klaus will probably want your blood for the rest of your life. It isn’t as bad as it sounds though, it’ll be like a blood donation every three months – in fact, who knows, Klaus might even get tired of his stupid hybrids and leave you alone, right? He’s an asshole, and I’m sorry about what he did to your boyfriend.”

Sad brown eyes comparable to a puppy broke her heart. It prompted her to make a promise to the young girl in earnest. “You know what? I’m sorry I didn’t do anything more to stop what happened. So, I will immediately start looking into magical theory behind the vampire switch, and maybe even the compulsion. I’m not really sure if there are any texts at all covering that topic in depth but-”

Annalise cut herself off when Elena hugged her quickly, then retreating away almost immediately. “Thanks. It means a lot.” The smile she was offered was small, but genuine. She replied in kind.

Her smile dimmed as she realised they had reached the classroom where Caroline and Tyler was being kept. Rebekah’s signature was shining bright in comparison to Caroline's newer glare, and Tyler's dying one. Klaus must have heard the conversation inside, and brushed past her. Lis felt his anger as he pushed the door open entering what looked like a science lab, without looking backwards. At least he hadn’t gone through with his threat about killing every kid currently at school, for her getting in the way of his amusement.

She sighed and followed behind him, still holding on to Elena.

Klaus spoke as everyone gathered looked up at our entrance. “Well, the verdict's in. The Original Witch says the doppelgänger should be dead.”

Lis didn’t miss the way that Rebekah’s face lit up as she stood and approached Klaus eagerly. “Does that mean we can kill her?” 

Klaus was right, she was that petty – it brought another amused grin to her face. They way Rebekah's eyes danced to hers, she knew her.. _.acquaintance?...Friend?_ Whatever she was, had been kidding. Lis moved Elena so she was next to Caroline, and she was next to Rebekah. They exchanged smiles and looked to Klaus who stood behind a chair leaning on it.

“No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite.”

“What?” Rebekah paused, confused, but at an invisible signal from Klaus had her immediately moving to put her arms around a struggling Caroline, pulling her away from her transitioning boyfriend. Tyler groaned lowly, still sagged over the table.

After rummaging through some cabinets quickly, Klaus brought forwards a small clean test tube and held it towards Elena. The girl held out her wrist willingly and Klaus bit it, holding the bleeding wound over the tube, and watching it fill quickly. When he got what he deemed was enough, Klaus moved closer, holding it towards Tyler. His eyes hadn't left the blood still dripping from Elena's wrist, but he was able to drag it away to look at Klaus in apprehension.

“Call it a hunch.”

Lis grabbed Elena’s injured hand and quickly pushed some healing magic into it, before wiping away the excess blood with the bottom of her dirty tee after the wound had closed. Caroline and Rebekah had watched surprised at this easy display of magic, before being distracted once again by Klaus offering Elena’s blood to the suffering hybrid. “Elena's blood. Drink it.”

“No! No, no, Tyler, don't!” Caroline fought against Rebekah’s hold, but she was no match for the Original.

Lis looked on sadly. There wasn’t anything she could do – he dies because he didn’t drink the blood, or he dies because he did. Either way, drinking Elena’s blood offered him at least the slightest chance of survival.

Klaus said her thoughts out loud. “If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment.” He turns back to Tyler and reassured him in a strangely gentle voice. “It's okay.”

The dying werewolf's control visibly broke before he gave in, gulping down the blood as Klaus offered quiet words of encouragement next to him. 

A moment later Tyler gasped, clutching his chest in pain as he rolled off the table on to the ground, sweeping other various objects that had been on the table with him with a loud clatter. As he groaned and writhed, his yells mixed with Caroline’s and Elena’s worried shouts.

Klaus just watched this unfold casually with a wicked curve to his lips. Lis looked away from him, feeling unsettled, and watched the struggling boy on the ground in worry.

She wondered if she had enough power to heal him - but technically he had died when Klaus had broken his neck - would her power even work?

Choking, Tyler rolled himself onto his knees and yelled in pain, clutching at his head with his eyes squeezed shut.

Wait. Lis stood straighter as she felt his magical signature change and grow into something more powerful. Her sudden movement and look of unconcealed shock she was directing at Tyler gained everyone’s attention. Klaus must have interpreted her expression correctly because crouched low on the ground, leaning towards Tyler with growing anticipation.

The boy struggled one last time and glared up at them with bright gold eyes and black veins climbing his cheeks, letting out a loud howl.

She felt Klaus smile widely beside her, eyes bright. 

“Well, that's a good sign.”

-

They were at the hospital now. Elena had agreed to her give blood after Klaus’s continued threats of violence on her friends and family, and so he had impatiently compelled a hospital room for her, and a nurse to start drawing her blood. 

He had allowed his first hybrid and his girlfriend to safely go home, and then had come outside to wait with Lis and Bekah, both sitting on the hood of a car in the in the hospital’s car park.

Lis shifted so she was lying down, hands folded under her head, looking up at the winking stars in the dark night sky. Her bare feet tapped in a nonsensical rhythm against the car's bonnet as she let the faint energy the stars gave off wash over her gently, joined by the brighter light of the waning moon. She tuned back into the conversation when Rebkah started speaking, not having realised Klaus had joined them once more.

“So, the doppelganger isn’t the problem, her blood is the solution.”

“Seems so.” She couldn’t see Klaus from where he was pacing, but his voice sounded strangely sombre.

“How did you know?” Rebekah sounded...sad. That piqued her interest. Lis sat up slightly, directing a curious look at Klaus, echoing Rebekah's question. 

"Yeah, you reached the conclusion before I did. How did you know?" 

“Well, you were indeed a great deal of help, Lissie.” He walked over to the hood and leaned against it, giving Lis a small, but strangely sincere smile. She gave him a hesitant one back. It was a welcome change from the normal annoyance and disdain. Did this mean he wasn't angry at her for going against him in the school? It definitely felt strange having him thank her for a change, that's for sure.

Klaus’s smile grew a miniscule amount at her grin, before it dulled looking back at Rebekah. “You know how much the Original Witch hated me. Do you think I would do anything other than the opposite of what she says?”

Lis noticed his eyes looked entirely too sad too, she frowned, realising that she was missing something big here. Something that disappointed both brother and sister. What exactly had been their relationship to the Original Witch?

Rebekah tilted her head at Klaus, who paced away from the car once more. “A thousand years in the grave, and she’s still screwing with you.”

“It makes sense if you think about it from her perspective,” He turned back around and approached the car again. “It was her fail-safe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse – the doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead…” he trailed away. Rebekah picked his train of thought up, continuing his statement.

“Then you couldn’t use her blood to sire yourself a new species,”

“Leaving me alone for all time.” Klaus finished off, looking at the ground away from Rebakah’s furrowed gaze and Lis’s silent look of understanding. Her empathy towards Klaus grew - loneliness was all she had known for most her life, to the point where she had felt empty; unfulfilled. The brief moments of happiness she had...had only made her realise what she missed, lost, and never had. That she would always be truly alone.

Annalise moved her sad gaze, focusing on the cracks in the cement pavement a couple metres away.

Rebekah had a different reaction to hers, sounding almost insulted. “Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids? You just don’t want to be _alone_?” Rebekah's line of questioning had Klaus looking up at her with eyes moistened in anger.

His tone grew defensive in an instant. “What I want; is to take my girl, take my hybrid, and get the hell out of this one-pony town.”

He walked away a few steps before sighing and looked back at his sister. His face was wiped clean of his prior frustration, making Annalise narrow her eyes at him. “Y’know, why don’t you get the truck? I’ll stay here with Lissie, and get Elena's blood.”

Rebekah leveled a long look at Klaus before sliding off the hood gracefully. She brushed her jeans off and walked away, turning to pass Lis a smile in goodbye.

She waved back silently. Rebekah smirked, brushing past Klaus, still not having forgotten nor forgiven him and his slight toward her. Klaus must have forgotten she was there for the briefest moment, as he let his face fall into disappointment. 

Lis was about to comment before she stiffened, feeling the presence of a vampire she’d never met before appearing from behind a car to her left. Klaus must have felt him too - after a brief look of warning in her direction, he plastered a smug smile of amusement on his face, tilting his head at the new vampire. “Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party.” Lis narrowed her eyes and braced herself, seeing the look of contempt on the vampire's face as he approached Klaus. 

“Where’s Elena?” The handsome dark-haired stranger didn’t even spare her a glance, striding up to Klaus tensed tight in anger.

“Uh...she’s making a donation to a greater cause,” Klaus quipped. Lis rolled her eyes internally. Of course he like antagonizing everyone he meets. Must be a personality trait. 

The stranger went to walk past him towards the hospital, but Klaus pushed him back firmly with no effort at all, smile still fixed fakely on his face. “Can’t let you interfere, mate.”

“Then you’ll have to kill me.”

Lis sat up straighter and clenched her hands in worry. She wasn't ready for another high-stress situation, dammit. She wasn't even sure if she had magic to spare. 

“I would love to, but uh...I made a pledge to your brother and unlike him I keep my word." Klaus tilted his head, looking at Damon mischievously. "Although you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn’t care that much anymore.”

Brother...Was this the brother Stefan had saved? The one he had traded his freedom for?

No wonder he was angry. But he was clearly no match for Klaus. He used his speed to smash the stranger against a black jeep to Lis’s left, choking him with trained ease. He raised his other hand high, probably intending to knock the guy’s head off, and Annalise still watched, warily. It was one thing to help when children were in the crosshairs, but this guy was definitely not a child. He seemed to have come here solely to pick a fight, as if...he _wanted_ Klaus to hurt him, punish him. Yikes. 

The self loathing must be strong in this one. It was a feeling she understood well. 

As Nik raised his arm to land a blow that _would_ hurt, the stranger raised his hands up in surrender, his eyes betraying his panic.

“Wait, wait!" Klaus paused. "Don’t you wanna know about your friend, Mikael?” He managed to choke out. This froze Klaus further. Annalise saw his back tense, and his raised hand tremble. She frowned, but didn't interrupt. This seemed huge.

“What do you know about Mikael?” Klaus’s voice shook the tiniest bit. Shit, he sounded genuinely sacred. Apprehension filled her at the thought of someone scaring possibly the worst vampire/werewolf Hybrid she knew in history.

Lis drew her knees to her chest in a crouch, ready to leap off to help if she needed to.

The stranger’s eyes glinted bright in victory. His gamble had paid off. “Just that he knows you’re here.”

“You’re bluffing.” Klaus breathed deeply.

“Katherine and I found him, consider it our leverage.” The stranger’s brows raised sarcastically as Klaus started leaning away. There's that name again; Katherine. It had convinced him. 

Growling, Klaus turned, throwing the guy into the front of the truck she was sitting on, before abruptly blurring away, disappearing from sight. Lis felt the hybrid’s aura blip rapidly into the distance as she blinked slowly.

Fuck.

Now what was she supposed to do?

Her attention snapped to the stranger who groaned in pain below her on the gravel, and watched as he stood up to look around, surprised but cautious. They both froze when his eyes met hers.

Annalise flashed him an awkward smile.

“You the witch travelling with Klaus?” She watched his eyes take in her ruffled appearance; a small woman, messy hair with slightly skewed frames resting low on her nose, and bare feet braced on the hood of a car as if she was about to leap off it. She must look strange.

“Uh, yeah? Sort of?” Annalise shrugged, shifting so she sat cross-legged more comfortably. 

“What is it?” The handsome stranger sounded annoyed, “You’re either with him, or you’re against him. And why do you smell really good?”

Lis shrugged uncomfortably, as she looked at him like he was the one balanced weirdly on the front of a car barefoot. Still, she sent him another tight-lipped smile and a shrug. “Yeah I’m with him, it’s a long story, but I don’t agree with his unnecessarily violent methods – especially when it comes to those poor kids at the high school tonight. And I’m not even gonna touch that strange second question. What do you want me to say? Though Eau de Former Captive does have a subtle ring to it.”

She felt tired as she observed his wary bright blue eyes. Annalise felt she had met enough new eyes tonight. She wanted to get this meet and greet over with. Wait, Elena's blood. She felt oddly protective after going to such lengths to procure it...

“I’m Annalise. Elena’s on the second floor, suite 214.” Her voice was soft, steady and honest, but she doubted this guy was going to let her just take Elena’s blood, so she had to get to her room before-

“Damon.” he nodded and blurred away.

She quickly visualised Elena’s room, teleported in, grabbed the filled blood bags and teleported back out, just as she felt the vampire – Damon – enter the suite.

A deep ache set into her bones as she leant back against the hood of the car she was on, she let out a low groan.

Lis felt the strain of the day hit her hard, she hadn’t used this much magic in one go for a very long time, even before she was imprisoned by Gloria. She never had to use it for anything big; just small mundane day-to-day things like heating up a cooled cup of tea, and making sure her succulents never died.

Stretching out her back, Lis rolled her neck out, sighing. Well, if she was going to keep her word and hang around Klaus, she was going to need to get used to it, fast.

Holding the freakishly warm blood bags safely in her hands, Annalise concentrated on stretching her magic out one last time to locate Klaus. She winced as a headache built, seizing a side of her head in what felt like a brain cramp.

But...against all odds, she got him. It was a good thing his powerful hybrid signature was unique. She doubted he was the one cosied up in the Mystic Falls suburbs going by how terrified he was. That would be Tyler. 

No, Klaus was predictably on a highway, speeding out of Mystic Falls.

Concentrating all her magic on Klaus’s supernatural signature, and making sure she didn’t lose it - she pulled herself to it and popped out of existence.


	6. The Road Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shout out to Nx, this chapter got finished early because of my first ever comment! :)  
> This mainly a filler chapter, bit of exposition, and Klaus and Lis are becoming friends! 
> 
> The next chapter will be uploaded still on Sunday like usual, fingers crossed.
> 
> Update: Revised

Klaus swerved the car, brakes squealing as Annalise abruptly appeared in the passenger’s seat in a flash of silver.

“Sorry. Wait watch out!”

His quick reflexes put them back in the right lane as a jeep sped past in the opposite direction, honking loudly.

Crisis temporarily averted, Lis casually made herself more comfortable in her seat and put her seat belt on - all while Klaus still stared at her with wide eyes. Annalise tried to stifle her grin, feeling it stretch at her cheeks, but she wasn't too successful. Maybe she was enjoying this a tad too much, but hey, it wasn't everyday you get to catch the Big Bad Wolf off guard. Giving up on hiding her amusement, she shot him a sly unrestrained grin as she leaned forwards to fiddle with the radio. 

“You don’t mind right? I’m feeling tired and I won’t be the best person to go on a safe late-night drive with without some music keeping me up.” Having recovered from his previous fright, Klaus now looked at her with suspicion; an expression that she had grown all too familiar with in the last two days, but still, Annalise played dumb. “What?”

“What are you doing here?” 

Paranoid was a word used often when describing Klaus Mikaelson - but she did admit it was a fair reaction. A person who _didn't_ run away from him the first chance they got, had something fundamentally wrong with them. 

Well, Annalise had accepted this years ago. Shrugging, she sat back in her seat after finding a semi-decent radio channel, turning the volume down low enough so it played in the background without being too distracting. “I gave you my word that I’ll help, Klaus.” Annalise paused, then held up the blood bags slightly to draw his attention to them. “And I kinda _had_ to reach out to you anyways y’know? You forgot these. The whole trip to Mystic Falls would have been pointless otherwise.”

Klaus’s face light up when he saw the blood, his smile dimpled his cheeks as before he nodded at her slightly out of gratitude. Yet even then, Annalise noticed that the suspicion didn't completely leave his gaze, trying to figure out his motive for helping him. Nevertheless, it seemed he had manners at least. “Thank you love, loyalty like yours is hard to come by these days.” 

She dismissed his words with a flapping hand and shifted around in her seat, twisting to look at the seats behind her. “Wouldn’t have an esky for these by any chance, would you? The blood needs to be kept at a certain temperature.”

“A what? _”_ Even as she continued to dig around the back as best she could, Lis could still hear his amusement. When Annalise looked back towards him, he stared straight ahead at the road with a small grin playing on his face. He knew what she meant. And he knew that she knew he knew. That _dick._ Annalise rolled her eyes, grinning again. Who knew he had a sense of humour? Well, at least it was a happy surprise that he had moods other than murder and smugness and...what else?

Lis turned back to looking through the surprising amount of bags in the back was she answered. “You know what I mean. A cooler. Happen to have one of those conveniently lying around? That’d be handy right now.”

“I’m afraid not love. There wasn’t much time to pack. I was in a rush. I paid the ripper a visit, told him to keep my doppelganger safe, grabbed a car, and left.”

Pause. Annalise immediately tore her hands out of the bag and turned to look a Klaus. "Wait, this car's stolen?" She raised her eyebrows at Klaus. He just shrugged at her, and continued staring ahead. Well...okay.

At any rate, she certainly couldn't do anything about it now. "It's not the worst thing you've done tonight." Even as Klaus' lips tightened, Annalise didn't regret her words. She moved back into her seat and sighed before reaching forwards to open the glove compartment in front of her. Emptying it out by gently placing its items in the back seat, she carefully set the blood bags in the compartment. “This is really a last resort kinda thing because I used my magic a bit too much today, but this is spell is small. The strain on my magic, however, will be constant – so it’ll be a good thing I’ll be resting for the next couple of hours.”

Taking a deep breath, she held her palms out towards the blood, fingers splayed, and muttered, “ _Alsius.”_ under her breath as she concentrated. Klaus' curious stare was tangible as a chill settled within the compartment. Annalise paid him no mind as she gently coaxed the temperature to drop until her breath fogged slightly in front of her and small amounts of frost started to crawl over her fingers – Shit, that was too cold.

Concentrating harder she willed the temperature to rise a small amount, but made sure the compartment still remained relatively chilly. Blood should be stored around 4 degrees Celsius from what she remembered. After achieving a temperature that she thought was accurate enough, Annalise let go of her focus. Closing the compartment carefully, she sat back, relaxing for a long minute to try to get comfortable with the small but constant trickle of her magic feeling the spell keeping the blood chilled. 

It was quiet for a while before Lis started forwards with a panicked gasp. “Shit, where’s Rebekah? You sent her to get the truc-“

“I left her in Mystic Falls. Like I said love, I was in a bit of a rush.” Klaus looked over at her with an amused tilt to his smile. It seemed his curiosity had overridden his previous anger, or Rebekah's current situation amused him a small amount. But Annalise was unnerved. Rebekah had been...an ally of sorts against Klaus, the buffer between them. They needed her to keep the peace, surely, and she felt bad for abandoning the only person she'd really come to know.

Annalise couldn't stop herself from asking. “Could I borrow your phone? Have you called her yet? I just feel bad for leaving her.”

He pursed his lips but silently took it out of his pocket and handed it to her. There he goes again, challenging her perception of him. He was volatile, angry, vindictive like the stories said he was, but there were times when Annalise paused because he was...oddly human. Annalise wasn't sure if it was a good thing that he reminded her of herself back when she was just angry at everything. Putting that thought away for later, she immediately went into the contacts list and dialled Rebekah's number. It had been about fifteen minutes since they'd last seen each other. The call was answered on the third ring.

“Where the _bloody_ hell are you? I’ve got the truck but you’re not here! I’m not some errand boy you can order around Nik!”

Lis lifted the phone away from her ear and put the call on loudspeaker – out of courtesy of course – she knew Klaus could hear every word.

“Hey Bekah, you’re on speaker. So, um, you would not _believe_ the craziest thing that just happened.” She held the phone up in her left band balancing it between her and Klaus as she spoke quickly, trying to make light of the situation. “So right after you left us Klaus was attacked by this guy named Damon and he managed to scare Klaus away, by doing some big-ass name drop-“

“Rebekah, they found him." Klaus rudely cut in, but the weight to his tone, the added fear, made Annalise listen closer. "Damon and Katherine found Mikael. He said that he knows I’m in Mystic Falls. It’s why I left.” 

They heard Rebekah inhale sharply in shock. When she spoke again, Klaus' fear was reflected in her own voice. “Nik where are you now? Tell me you did _not_ just leave me behind with someone we've been running from for centuries.” Annalise noted her insulted tone was totally justified, especially considering this new information. Lis squinted at Klaus judgmentally. Klaus narrowed his own glare back at her, before leaning in to answer Rebekah.

“We both know it’s me he’s truly after sister, and if I’m not there, he’ll follow my trail." He shifted, eyes flicking back to the road. "Look, I’ve got the doppelganger's blood. I’ll be able to create an army to fight back against him. I’ll return soon Rebekah.” Klaus sounded solemn, so Lis decided to interrupt the darkening atmosphere.

“I’m out of juice right now Bekah, otherwise I’d teleport you right here into the car with us. Sorry. Believe me, I'd rather your company that this guy's any day.” She heard Rebekah snort lightly even as Klaus sent her an unimpressed glare, so she smirked at him as she continued. “Do you have somewhere you can sleep for the night, and probably for the foreseeable future?”

“I’m not sure Lissie, I don’t think there’s any hotels nearby, and motels are definitely out of the question. I could find a quaint little B and B or...oh, what about the Salvatore Boarding House?” Her voice took on a mischievous tone that seemed infectious as Klaus' smirk deepened wickedly.

“That would be quite ideal sister, you can keep an eye on my ripper as well as his annoying brother intent on raising Mikael. Feel free to check into the local high school as well by the way – I know you’ve always wanted to attend. You can keep a closer eye on my new hybrid and doppelganger there.”

“Knowing you, you probably left me behind on purpose, considering how well this all works out.” Rebekah’s annoyed tone was back, and accusing.

“No, dear sister, it certainly wasn’t planned. But do I agree, everything worked out well didn’t it?” Klaus was smug - it was beginning to look like that was his default - and Lis was sure that Rebekah heard it too.

“Screw you, Nik.” Rebekah snapped and ended the call, leaving the end tone filling the silence she left behind. Annalise sent a tight-lipped awkward smile as he grabbed his phone out of her hand once more, pocketing it without looking at her.

Annalise sucked her teeth before letting out a low exhale as she relaxed into her seat, facing away from the Hybrid. 

This was going to be a long-ass drive.

_-_

Annalise hummed along to the song quietly playing in the car in boredom, bopping her head slightly in time with the beat. Sure, she was sitting next to a probably certified murderous psychopath - but she felt entirely too relaxed. Klaus had been silent for the last hour, deep in thought with his brow furrowed, one hand relaxed on the wheel and the other cupping his chin. She looked away quickly when she saw his eyes flick to hers. That had been happening for a while.

He had been glancing at her periodically, and frankly, it was getting on her nerves. 

He was curious, sure. She had questions too. Annalise took a deep breath and turned to face him. “You have questions, but so do I. I get the feeling that I just stepped into something huge – like apocalyptically huge.” She shifted once more, loosening her seat belt strapped against her chest and moved so her back rested against the locked car door. This allowed Lis to face Klaus fully as she continued. “But, I did promise that I’d work for you until you let me go. If I can lower your kill count while I do that, that’s a bonus. You’re dangerous, and I get the feeling if I’m anything but honest; if I hide anything from you, that it definitely won’t bode well for me. So, go ahead – ask me anything you want. Just know that I’ll ask you some questions too at the end,” Klaus raised an eyebrow as if asking whether she was serious. Annalise shrugged with a small smile. “Humour me.”

After turning back to the road for a short moment to mull the decision over, Klaus spoke. Clearly he'd been curious for a while. “I thought you said that you don’t have to pay a price for your magic, why are you exhausted? Is there a limit that you reach?”

Her lips quirked. As far as first questions go, that was surprisingly non-invasive, and quite...professional?

“I’ve never really used my magic to its fullest y'know? At the start it was because everyone had convinced me it was dark, and then I felt bad that I had magic, and my parents didn’t. After that, I had to keep a pretty tight lid on it in foster care through to high school. The first time I actively tried to access and use it was when I was back in Australia doing my degrees. That’s when I started studying magic to figure out what I had, what I was. I still have no clue, but at least I learnt to use it. It’s like a muscle – I didn’t exercise it for a long time, and just when I started to, I was taken by Gloria. Best analogy is that my magic muscle’s a tad stiff right now, and today just stretched it out – painfully." She winced, rubbing her shoulder as if her exhaustion was physical. "I’ll practice from now on, don’t worry; I’ll be throwing around magic in no time.”

“So then why Latin?” She huffed out a laugh at his question.

“Of course, you picked up on that, you’re _ancient_.” Lis teasingly shrugged one shoulder at his disgruntled expression. “One of my degrees was Latin – I know, it’s a dead language and all, but a lot of spells and enchantments old European witches created are based loosely off Latin, and more rarely ancient Greek, so I figured it was handy. It was when I was practising one night that I figured out my magic responded better and more accurately to a vocal order instead of a mental one. So, I’ve been using it ever since." Annalise felt her grin threaten to falter at the memories of learning her magic, so she moved on quickly with a shallow laugh. "Not to mention it sounds pretty damn cool too.”

The quiet stretched between them for a moment, the low bass of and indistinguishable song was muted in the background. Annalise vaguely wondered if he'd caught on, but her fears were unfounded. His voice was strangely gentle when he spoke again. “You said your parents described your eyes as inhuman on our way to Mystic Falls. That they glowed. I saw them glow.”

Lis swallowed thickly and looked away.

“They were a bright grey. Like molten silver.” She looked up in shock, her eyes wide as she studied his expression. It wasn't giving anything away, but it wasn't malevolent either. 

That was...unexpectedly nice. “Uh, thanks? I think hybrid eyes are cool too?” Her voice was distinctly uncomfortable and awkward. She shut her eyes tight and hit the back of her head against the window. Jeez, why was she like this?

She felt Klaus’s amused smirk directed at her once more, and thought it was time to move on. “Anyway, my turn. I learnt a lot of new names tonight – like literally everyone’s, so correct me if I’m wrong. The guy I talked to after you left in a hurry, I think it was Damon? Who was he to Elena, because I was sure that Stefan was Elena’s guy? I could tell he was very concerned though.”

Klaus’s fingers had tightened on the steering wheel. “You talked to Damon? What did you say? Did he mention Mikael? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Lis saw his fingers flex, forming grooves in the wheel under them, deeper at each question he asked. His eyes had that fury she was getting oh-so-used to seeing. Just as she thought things might out, she had lost her footing once more. 

The anger was going to be a problem, but Annalise had to show that she wasn't deterred. She looked at him dully, unimpressed. “Chill. All he did was ask if I was with you. I said yes, and then I told him Elena’s room number before I flashed in there to grab the blood bags. I would've mentioned it to you if I thought he said something important.” She saw Klaus relax minutely and look back towards the road.

Annalise could, however, still hear the cold irritation in his voice. “I don’t trust you enough to decide which conversations are important, and which aren’t. I don’t care if anyone even breathes in your direction – you tell me.”

“Okay, fine, I’m sorry.” It wasn’t like she wanted to argue and rile him up even more. She needed answers of her own and wasn’t going to get them from a grumpy Klaus.

She let them sit in silence for a while longer. Klaus merged the car into a larger highway just as Lis felt the magic in the air swell and grow heavy and humid. She smiled and cracked the window open, breathing in deeply. “I just love the smell of rain.” As she answered Klaus’s questioning look, the first few droplets of rain fell on to the windscreen, multiplying rapidly until the sound of the quiet radio playing was accompanied by a low constant thrum of rain hitting the car. Klaus flicked the windshield wipers on as she closed the window and leaned back.

“I have another question. Kinda heavy.” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “Who’s Mikael? And why did the mention of him have you abandoning your sister, and running for the hills?” He glared at her venomously before turning away, mouth resolutely shut. “Look, if I know more, maybe I can help more, okay?” Lis moved to face him fully again. 

The silence continued and she sighed giving up. Maybe she can badger him another day then. Lis ran a hand through her hair and shifted in her seat again, turning away from Klaus, facing the front instead. She watched as the car swallowed up the dark road under them, leaning her head against the cool window.

Her eyes had begun to flutter close, but immediately snapped open at the sound of Klaus’s low voice. “Mikael is my father.”

Lis felt her eyes bulge out in shock.

“He hated me before we all turned, and hated me even more afterwards. He detested the monsters we had become, but his anger increased tenfold after I had killed my first human and triggered the curse. That’s when he realised that I was part-werewolf – that I wasn’t his.”

Shit. Annalise watched Klaus’s eyes narrow, glaring at nothing, before he continued slowly.

“It turns out my mother had been unfaithful, and had been with one of the wolf men in our village before I was born. Mikael called me an abomination, a _beast;_ then strung me up in chains and demanded my mother cast a curse to keep my werewolf side dormant.” It's why he had reacted at her being called an abomination by her parents. The hurt reflecting in his expressive eyes met Lis’s sad brown ones when he heard her let out a soft gasp of understanding.

“Your _mother_ was the Original Witch. She was the one that cursed you; the one that tried to convince you to kill Elena so that you wouldn’t succeed in making your hybrids. You told Bekah that she hated you.” Annalise remembered.

“You are no stranger to bad parenting love, you understand.”

She saw past his casual statement for what it was. She was all too familiar with trying to make things feel like no big deal. “I do. I’m sorry you went through that.” she muttered. “No one should.”

He didn’t reply, but his grip relaxed on the wheel as he continued.

“My father then went out into the village, killing all its werewolves. I confronted my parents, mad at my mother for what she did to me, and to us, my siblings – killing us, turning us into these _things.”_ Klaus bit his lip, turning away. “My mother died that night, my siblings and I; we ran, fleeing our father. He's now a vampire who hunts vampires – he only drinks from them, not humans. He has been chasing us down for as long as I can remember, but we were given a short reprieve for nearly the entirety of the last few decades. We had hoped he stopped his pursuit of us, but Damon and Katherine’s incessant efforts must have him continuing once more.”

Lis had bowed her head, and lifted it as he finished speaking. She had nothing to say, but was able nod at him in understanding just once – Klaus reciprocated her nod, and Annalise felt something shift in their dynamic. Klaus moved to mention it. “You’re strangely easy to talk to, love. Is this a spell of some sort?" 

Annalise rolled her eyes and huffed, taking his abrupt change of topic in stride. “You’re suspicious, as always. I’m a _wonderful_ listener thank you very much. Plus, I don’t think I’m capable of affecting your emotions or your thoughts. I think my magic can only affect people on a physical level. I don’t think I can mess with people emotionally. Then again – I do also know a handy truth spell, but that’s not really emotional manipulation, is it? That's more mental manipulation. You'd think they're similar, but they really aren't.” She let out a light yawn. 

Stretching her arms out in front of her, she spoke, her voice was soft and tired. “Speaking of my magic, are we going wherever it is we are going to directly, or are we going to stop somewhere for the night?”

“We’re going to Kansas. There were rumours of werewolf pack up there a while ago, might as well put the blood you stole to good use. It is a long drive however, so I was going to stop at a roadside motel soon. Why did you ask love?” He matched her soft tone initially, before shooting her a quick lecherous smirk which turned into a chuckle she started swatting at his arm.

Lis felt she got a couple good whacks in before she sat back in her seat satisfied. “Ugh, no innuendos please. Keeping the blood bags chilled is draining me faster than I thought it would.” She saw his eyes grow curious again and tried to explain. “Imagine you were holding a light bag in front of you with your arm raised, right? At the start its quite easy but as more and more time goes by, the effort required to keep the bag held up increases because your arm muscles start to weaken and grow tired. My magic’s like that, and I mean, it’s pretty weak right now as it is.”

He nodded along interestedly as he turned off the highway into a small town, and allowed silence to fill the small car again. Lis felt herself dozing off with the rain outside lulling her to sleep but she resisted, rubbing her eyes. In an effort to stay awake she looked towards Klaus once more.

“Last question, I swear. You said siblings before, I only know Bekah. Are there more of you?” Her eyes glinted with amusement as she put on a faux horrified look on her face, looking at a smirking Klaus.

“Yes. Originally, my mother bore seven children. The eldest died in a plague, which is what caused us to move to the New World. Then our youngest died at the hands of werewolves there." His eyes grew hooded before he clearly built back his casual air. "Currently, we make five in total. Finn, the eldest, then Elijah, me, Kol and finally Rebekah.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your siblings.” Lis squinted, pausing. “Wait, are your living brothers in those coffins you cart around with you everywhere?” He shrugged casually, looking away. “I knew it! I knew I felt magic close to you and Bekah’s signatures coming from those four caskets." She clapped her hands lightly, congratulating herself, before her mind caught up with the rest of what Klaus said. "Wait hold up then – that's three brothers - who’s in the fourth one? The magic coming from one of them felt _way_ stronger than the rest. It practically dripped with power.”

Klaus thinned his lips, looking away; clearly not willing to answer.

She scrunched her nose up at him in annoyance, before she decided to move on. She didn’t need to know _everything_ right this minute. They kinda had a good thing going, and she didn't want to jeopardise it by asking one too many questions. Annalise shot a teasing smile. 

“At least I get why you act like the arsehole you are; everything makes sense now,” She leaned towards him cheekily, even as his brow furrowed, lifting an eyebrow at her sudden abandon of her prior line of questioning. 

“You’re a _middle child_.”

Settling back in her seat she chuckled, watching a rare smile form on his face as they turned slowly into a motel car park. It didn’t look too bad, in all honestly, she was looking forwards to taking a long bath, and sleeping in a half-way decent bed for the first time in eight months.

Klaus parked and turned the ignition off before turning to her. “The rain’s just let up enough. I’ll go get room keys and come back to collect you. While you wait, see if you can find some spare clothes and shoes in the backseat; this car’s family had a child – she looked like she was your height.”

He was out of the car, smirking as an indignant gasp left her mouth. Lis snorted to herself, before she shrugged. She deserved that. More than anything, Lis was glad Klaus' anger had dissipated for now. Though it wasn't what she'd expected working for him, he was surprisingly easy to talk to. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. 

Turning in her seat, she flicked the light on inside the car, before starting to sort through the duffel bags in the back.

When Klaus returned, he climbed into the car hurriedly out of the rain, promptly growing still in fury as he looked to his left, seeing the passenger seat empty. A loud “ _Yes!”_ from behind him had him looking into the back seat where Lis; wearing a puffy pink raincoat and a white cap, was holding up a small pair of cream coloured ballet flats in the air victoriously. 

“I see you found clothes that fit.” Annalise physically felt how hard he was grinning, but didn’t bother looking up. Instead, she busied herself with stuffing all the snacks she could find into a handy colourful tote bag.

Still feeling him smirk at her, she gave him her best glare as he reached over to the passenger side glove compartment to grab the chilled blood bags. “Just for the record, I hate the fact that I’m digging through children’s clothes, you absolute sociopath,” she growled. “I feel so bad for the poor family.”

He dismissed her, sitting back up right. “I paid them for their troubles.”

She threw a stray sock in his general direction. “Okay, number one; I doubt that, Klaus – you probably broke the sound barrier in your rush to leave, and two; They packed quite a lot for their trip, what if they were moving somewhere? Oh, I am such a horrible person.”

Looking over, expecting another glib response from him, she paused in confusion. There was no one there. Squinting out the window, she made out Klaus already heading away from the car towards the stairs leading up to the second level.

She cursed under her breath and gave up trying to dig through separate bags, instead she grabbed one at random, grabbed her snack tote, and put her hood up over her cap before reaching up to flick the inside lights off. Lis then jumped out of the car, shut the door and ran towards the stairs and up to the second floor to where Klaus had already walked into a room. When she reached the room, panting, he was leaning down to put Elena’s blood in the mini fridge. She paused in the doorway,

“Wait, we aren’t sleeping in the same room, right?” Klaus turned and smirked at her before she saw his eyes flick to a small table next to the door to her left, which had a key with a room tag sitting on it. 

“Oh, great. That would have been weird - too much like a hostage sitch. Thanks.” She reached forwards and grabbed the key – it was the next door down. It appeared he trusted her to stay, or more likely, this was another test. Either way, Annalise was glad to have a room to herself and a bed to sleep in. Annalise paused in Klaus' doorway before she left. “Wait, when are we leaving for Kansas tomorrow?”

Klaus had already turned away, busy tapping away on his phone. “Be ready at dawn, I don’t want to waste any time.”

She bobbed her head and went to pull the door shut behind her, but paused again.

“Do you want snacks?” She opened her tote bag to show him the options he could choose from, and looked up to see him looking at her again weirdly. “What? There’s jerky in here, some potato chips and m&ms.”

He squinted at her, baffled.

“Fine, okay. Your loss. Goodnight.” She shrugged and closed the door behind her, walking to her own room.

Flipping the lights on, and locking the door behind her, Lis looked around her small musty smelling motel room. Despite everything looking a decade old, the bed looked so, _so_ inviting. It was a _proper_ bed - not anything like the makeshift shitty thing she slept on at Gloria's. Annalise let her head tilt back as she let out a deep breath. This was it - she was free. 

Well, not technically. She was with Klaus now - the only things different between Klaus and Gloria was that he never hid his true intentions of making him work for her, and he didn't tie her up. He even got her her own motel room! She _could_ run away right now in theory - but she'd heard horror stories about Klaus hunting people to the ends of the Earth, just for lying to him. Plus - it felt rude. They'd...bonded over their shitty life stories. 

Lis mentally shrugged. It couldn't hurt to stick around for a bit more, would it? 

Chucking her snack tote on the small table, she walked over to the foot of the bed and dropped the duffel. Crouching low to inspect its contents, she scowled at finding men’s clothes, but she wasn’t a position to be picky. She grabbed a shirt and a pair of sweats (that definitely won’t fit her), before opting to take a long shower – she didn’t trust the motel bath once she got a good look at the suspicious stains in it.

Falling to the bed in exhaustion half an hour later, she slept soundly with a genuine smile.

She was _free._

**-**

Annalise had genuinely felt bad about the fact that Klaus had stolen a car - from a family with a tween, no less - so when they reached Kansas the next day after a long drive she had separated from Klaus after a short argument.

Klaus had wanted to track down the werewolves first, and she had argued that he didn’t need her along as well. What Lis had wanted to do instead, was go into town, find the nearest place with internet and see if her finances were still in order - maybe even shop for new clothes. She felt horribly guilty wearing someone else's clothes.

He had finally acquiesced sternly; only after she promised she would return to the motel in two hours, and pointed out that this argument was just wasting time he could be using to hunt these werewolves down. Annalise really did appreciate that he hadn't forced her to do what he wanted - not that he really needed her after he received a pretty big lead, but still. It was nice not being treated like a prisoner. 

After splitting up and finding a small library that offered free internet access, she logged in to her finances and was relieved to find them untouched.

It wasn’t much - after all her parents had been practically broke - so all she had was a ton of debt from her degrees, and a small pile of savings she had earned doing casual jobs while in university.

She reported her bank card as missing, and ordered a new one to the motel; she could recreate her ID easily enough using her magic, but recreating debit cards were harder, since they had to interact in the proper manner with technology.

Figuring how to _that_ wasn’t at the top of her priorities at this moment, no matter how cool it would be. She faltered, remembering a friend from a life long gone. He would've probably figured it out by now. 

Forcing herself to move on, she looked up contact information on the Mystic Falls DMV and called them from a payphone in the street. “Hi, I’m calling to report a car that’s parked across my driveway, I have the licence plate number-”

“Ma’am that sounds like a police matter, I suggest calling them, not the DMV.” The female voice sounded judgy.

Time to pull out the big guns, then. Annalise called on her most desperate voice. “Wait, wait please, I’m already late for work, and I don’t want the police involved. I just had a real shitty breakup and I’m sure this is my stupid ex getting back at me. I don’t want to make this a big deal; I just want to make sure this is his fault before I decide to report it.” Annalise took out the little slip of paper that she'd jotted down their car's licence number preemptively. 

The operator paused and sighed before asking for the licence number before sighing again. “Just so you know, we have no authority to do this at all – so if the police ask, we didn’t give you this information.”

“Yes, yes thank you so much.”

There was the sound of keyboard keys clacking before the operator spoke again. “The car belongs to an Alex McMullin – does that name sound familiar?”

“Yes, yes, he’s my ex’s best friend; I knew it. Thank you so much miss.” Lis didn’t have to fake the happiness in her voice. The operator sighed one last time before ending the call.

Lis then continued her little self-appointed quest and went back into the Library in order to search the name up in a recent phone book; she was relieved to find only one result lived in Mystic Falls – thank goodness for small towns. She wrote down the address on a post-it and slipped it in her pocket before going back to the motel, satisfied that she did everything she set out to do with time to spare.

-

Over the next few days they had spent long nights on the road, going from Atlanta to Kansas, to North Dakota, then Seattle before finding themselves in Portland. They had managed to accumulate quite the hybrid crowd over the past week, but Lis was still using her magic radar to find clusters of (now familiar) werewolves in the areas they visited. Klaus's fascination with her magic seemed to dim - he did watch in interest as she recreated her ID using magic a few days ago, but since then she made sure she practiced everyday - the novelty of it decreased. 

Lis also badgered Klaus to let her use his phone from time to time to call Rebekah and stay up to date on all the drama happening back in Mystic Falls. She had cheered and congratulated her for joining the cheer squad, and felt justifiably annoyed when Rebekah said Damon came on to her the other day just to distract her while they tried to make Stefan turn his switch back on. There were other, more decent ways they could've done that. Sure, what Klaus had done was pretty horrible, but now Annalise was realising that the Mystic Falls gang wasn't worried to resort to underhanded ways to gain the upper hand, and get their friend back. 

Rebekah was just bragging to her right now about going behind the 'preppy queen bee’s' back, and making her boyfriend Tyler drink more blood. Apparently on Klaus' orders. He wouldn't have his hybrids on the animal diet - not when he was amassing an army to take Mikael down. Still, it also felt underhanded, and Annalise felt pity for the werewolf-turned-hybrid - caught between two sides. 

She delicately chose not to comment, and complained about Klaus just being plain boring - all while smirking at him in his own room, before he grabbed his phone back off her, rolling his eyes.

“I need my phone for actual work love, you can gossip with my sister another time.”

When Annalise was finally notified her debit card had arrived at the motel in all the way back in Kansas, she teleported there, collected it quickly and arrived back, wasting no time going into the city to celebrate. She bought a cheap hobo handbag, a wallet, and a duffel into which she stuffed with several changes of clothes and toiletries – she was lucky this motel had offered complimentary toothbrushes and soaps this long.

Her last purchase was a cheap second-hand phone – it was a bit worn, but it worked fine.

After her mini shopping spree, Annalise got back to the motel and put the men’s clothes she had worn into the wash, then got to work heaving the luggages and duffels that were left in the boot and the backseats of the car, along with anything else, into her motel room.

She still wasn’t friendly enough with the hybrids to ask them for help, and Klaus only joined her curiously after he saw her carry up the last bag.

“Sure, join me when all the hard work is done, why not? Not like I could’ve used your superhuman strength or anything.” Annalise grumbled under her breath as she felt him follow her into her room.

“What on earth are you doing now?” He asked, looking perturbed by the pile of bags and belongings in the centre of the room; surrounded by a thin circle of salt. It was all looking a tad ritualistic, but this was a fairly straightforward spell. 

Annalise placed the bag she was carrying on the top of the pile carefully, and walked to the other side of the room to collect the last duffel she had stuffed the washed and dried clothes into, before placing that on the pile as well.

Walking back towards him, she shrugged. “These are literally other people’s belongings; I’m sending them back. I was going to send the car back too, but I kinda figured you’d kill me if I did.”

Klaus smirked. “At least your good intuition hasn’t left you love.”

Annalise rolled her eyes before she grabbed a folded map she had borrowed from the front desk and circled Alex McMullin’s address she had written on the post it note nearly a week ago. Finally, she grabbed a lighter and set a corner of the map on fire before setting it down in the circle of salt gingerly, making sure it wasn’t going to singe any of the poor family’s belongings.

“Do you have to do this every time you teleport? You didn’t have to before back at the school, and the car.” Klaus walked closer to where Lis had kneeled with one hand in the salt circle and one on the outside.

She shook her head distractedly. “No, supernaturals have magical signatures that I can sense. I found Elena’s and I pulled myself to it, and I did the same with you. Teleporting to normal places without distinct energy signatures though, that’s a bit different – I have to be able to picture it exactly in my mind along with how it feels, so I can’t teleport to places I’ve never been to before, even if I had a picture of it. The McMullin family is conveniently neither supernatural nor somewhere I’ve been to before – plus, I’m not teleporting myself to them, just their belongings. The theory is applied a tad different here.”

She shut her eyes and pulled her magic to her centre before focusing it into her hands.

“ _Volo abire ad locum._ ”

Annalise heard Klaus inhale sharply and opened her eyes to an empty salt circle. She felt the pull that the spell had on her magic, but she still felt fine – all that practice was paying off. Dusting her knees, she stood up stretching her limbs out before turning back to Klaus – he was getting better at hiding his shock at her magic. “Hey, I bought a phone this afternoon, could you give me Bekah’s number?”

She placed her phone on his outstretched hand he offered, and followed him to his room, shutting her door behind her.

“So, do you have a lead on where the werewolves you were looking for this morning are now?” 

He nodded distractedly while typing in Rebekah’s contact information into her phone. “I have it on good authority that they’ve moved up into the mountains some miles away to get ready for the full moon tomorrow.”

She was humming along with his statement when an uneasy feeling hit Lis unexpectedly. Her vision swam, and she dropped to her knees, clutching at her chest with a gasp. Something felt wrong, very wrong. She didn’t notice Klaus gently moving her over to sit on the end of his bed, but she did register his question. “What happened? What’s wrong love?”

“I don’t know!” She curled in on herself and grimaced. “My magic, it doesn’t hurt - but it feels as if something is really wrong.”

Suddenly, a vision of Bonnie holding hands with an older woman chanting a spell together, facing a fire flashed behind her eyes; followed closely by the image of a necklace burning in the said fire. _‘That necklace, I’ve seen it before…’_

“Bekah. Klaus call Bekah, I just saw Bonnie burn the necklace Elena was wearing in that photo, chanting something in latin about a veil.”

Klaus had dialled Rebekah’s number almost immediately while still watching Lis with veiled concern. The feeling of cold unnatural wrongness was starting to slowly subside as the minutes went by, and she sat up straighter with bright worried eyes focused on Klaus. Rebekah answered almost immediately, and he wasted no time in putting her on speaker and questioning her. “Rebekah something’s wrong, do you have the necklace?”

“Nik, it’s over. The scooby gang were panicked tonight – these ghosts appeared out of nowhere and started hurting them. They sent them away just now, apparently by destroying the necklace. According to them, some witch on the other side was tapping into its power to let ghosts with unfinished business stay on in the land of the living. Most of them decided to go after the founding families which meant,”

“Elena.” Klaus breathed in realisation, his eyes wide.

“Yes, her, and god forbid she gets hurt, so situation was resolved and that’s that.” Lis could practically hear Bekah’s scowl and shrug through the phone.

“Are you okay, Bekah? Any ghosts come after you tonight?” Annalise spoke up.

“None thankfully – I wasn’t at the Salvatore house; I was at the town square. Apparently, some of the ghosts were there as well, but I didn’t know until the issue was resolved. It’s not as if I’m the most powerful creature in Mystic Falls right now, or anything.” She sighed. “How did you know anyway? I was just about to call you.”

“That’s on me Bekah, I had a feeling. Alls well that ends well, then. Oh! by the way this number we’re calling from right now, it’s my number so save it! I don’t have to annoy Klaus for his phone anymore~”

“Oh, isn’t that a pity.” The smirk was very apparent in Rebekah's tone.

Klaus rolled his eyes. “If there’s any other complications, call me.”

“Bye Bekah!” Lis yelled, before scowling at Klaus for ending the call before she could hear Bekah’s reply. She paused, looking at him seriously, previous amusement gone from her face. "Bekah said a witch from the other side tapped into the power of the necklace." Annalise swallowed. "Klaus, the only people who can do that are people who have a connection to the necklace so it acts as a tether. Is this the Original Witch? Is she reaching out again like she did to Bonnie, and trying to get Elena killed?" 

Klaus paused, gaze focusing on something far away. "I wouldn't put anything past her Lissie." Shaking himself out of his sombre reverie, he shrugged and threw over her phone, watching amused as she leapt to catch it.

“Are you feeling better then?”

She nodded, choosing not to mention his mini moment as he plastered an excited smirk on his face.

“Great, then get off my bed. We’re going werewolf hunting tomorrow – be ready early. I’m going to father more of the greatest species to ever exist on the planet, and I don’t need you making me late.”

Lis chucked a pillow at his head and tried to scowl at him for his rudeness, but couldn’t hold a laugh back at his eager smile.

“Look at you, all ready and excited to be a daddy~”

She dodged a pillow and ran away, giggling. Was she enjoying herself a bit too much?

Maybe. 

But she was beginning to figure out that the Originals might not be too bad after all. 


	7. Homecoming Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to pick up 0_0 hehe  
> Lots of love to ferallahey, thanks for commenting - it made me smile so wide!  
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Update - Revised :)

Lis had now officially known the Originals for over a week; she had expected their violent tendencies to get on her nerves quickly, but had strangely found that the longer she knew them – the more human they seemed. That’s not to say they hadn't done horrible, evil things, but she found it easier to live with their actions and let them get away with more.

Maybe it was because she understood them better, but she had started wondering...was it easier to justify what they'd done because she was a bad person? 

Her mind unintentionally felt to her past before she shook her head, bringing herself to focus on the present.

Annalise was currently resting on a fallen tree trunk staring up at the beautiful night sky and the bright crescent moon. Klaus was sitting a short distance away on the forest ground, leaning his back on the opposite end of her tree trunk, eyes closed. The only sounds that filled the silence were the crickets that chirped, accompanied by the leaves rustling softly in the cool night breeze. The magic in the air felt like slow water, flowing sedentarily in a lethargic manner. It was incredibly peaceful in the clearing - which was why the werewolf corpses littering the forest floor was so jarring to look at.

They were currently waiting for the latest batch of dead werewolves to rise, and when they did, Klaus was ready with a blood bag courtesy of Elena.

As soon as the first groan cut through the silence, Klaus jumped into action. He grabbed a paper cup from the bag he had ready, and carefully poured a measured amount of blood into it, putting it to the transitioning hybrid’s lips. Lis watched from the tree trunk as the hybrid slurped the blood up greedily, almost relishing the taste, then promptly seizing and writhing on the ground for a few seconds.

The golden eyes and the black veins on his face when he finally lifted it was almost as eye catching as the razor-sharp teeth exposed in his roaring mouth. Klaus let out a relieved gleeful smile; she sighed. Was it bad that I kinda feel happy for him?

She was distracted from her thoughts when her phone vibrated – that could only be one of two people; and the latter was right in front of her feeding the hybrids blood carefully. He had sneaked his number in her phone along with Rebekah’s the other day – he had said it was convenient when she asked him about it, and she had shrugged in agreement before letting it go.

Annalise waved at Klaus to catch his attention. “Hey, Bekah’s calling, are you going to be fine if I step away and call her for a bit?”

Lis took his distracted nod as the go-ahead to move a fair way away from the clearing, and brought her phone up to her ear. “Bekah! Okay, so...from the photos you sent me I reckon you’d look rockin’ in the red or the blue dress for Homecoming. They’re my favourites.”

Annalise was referring to the number of text messages she had received earlier that morning from Rebekah asking for her opinion on what dress she should wear for the Homecoming tonight. She had also told Lis that Elena was snooping around in her business, and being generally very annoying, so she had grudgingly indulged in telling her family history. This was of course before she got a series of angry texts from the Original venting about how she had realised that the entire reason that Elena had been interested in her story was because Elena had been trying to decide whether or not to wake Mikael up in order to kill Klaus.

When she'd shared the news that Mikael still wasn’t awake yet with Klaus on the drive up to the forest, he'd been ecstatic – saying that this was most possibly the best day of his life.

Annalise came out of her thoughts when she just heard heavy breathing coming from the other side of the call, and grew concerned. “Bekah? What’s wrong? Did Elena do something? Are you hurt?”

“No, no I’m fine.” She could hear her friend struggle to choke out her words between a heavy sob.

“Bekah it clearly sounds like you’re crying. What’s wrong? Talk to me please. Do you want me to come over?”

“No, I’m okay. It’s okay.” Rebekah's voice grew more stable. “Is Nik with you?”

“Yes, he’s with me, but he’s tending to his new hybrids a little distance away. Do you want me to get him for you Bekah?”

“NO! I just-, has he ever talked to you about our mother?”

Annalise faltered at Rebekah's loud exclamation, but answered worriedly. “Yeah, just briefly. He mentioned that she died shortly after cursing him. Why are you asking about her? Are you okay?” Lis toed at the forest ground under her feet, frowning. 

“Yes.” She heard Rebekah clear her throat. “Yeah, I was just missing her. Are you guys planning on coming back to Mystic Falls since Nik’s got his hybrids now?”

“I don’t know, maybe? The pack we just turned was quite big so we might need more of Elena’s blood. I’m trying to convince him not to return so soon though – it can’t be healthy for Elena to give that much blood up in such a short amount of time. But Rebekah, I’m glad you called me, even if you were just missing your mother. You’re my friend, I’ll always be here for you.”

“Thank you, I needed to hear that.” She heard Rebekah exhale slowly. “Right, um, I’ll let you get back to Nik then, Lissie. Talk to you soon?”

“As soon as you want. Are you sure you don’t want me to come to you?” Lis bit her lip, still worried and puzzled over the nature of the phone call.

“Yes, I’m sure Lissie. Thank you.” Rebekah’s voice was soft and small, and it was making her all the more anxious. “Good night.”

“Anytime Bekah. Good night.”

Lis slipped her phone back in her pocket and made her way back to Klaus who looked up at her in question while still crouched low, talking to a recovering hybrid. She shrugged feeling wrong about revealing everything Rebekah said, but spoke up softly when he approached her after tending to his new pack. “It was a personal call Klaus, I helped her pick out a homecoming dress and the conversation just moved somewhere emotional.”

He nodded and letting it slide before moving back to his hybrids – all of them had woken - and some had begun standing up and walk around in amazement. Annalise felt her soft smile grow. It spoke volumes of Klaus' trust in her; it had been less than a week ago when he had accused her of holding back information after talking to Damon, now he didn't even question it. Did he truly trust her?

No. She must have it wrong - he must think she's too harmless to do anything. There's no way that _Klaus Mikaelson_ , the infamously paranoid Original would ever trust her to any extent this early on. Or who know's, maybe her honesty paid off.

Lis snorted to herself. _Yeah, right._

One thing she had realised though, was that somehow _she_ trusted Klaus. Not completely, but to a generous extent. As Annalise thoughtfully watched him seamlessly slip into the role of their leader, and give his new pack mates a rousing speech, he seemed to be in his element. The werewolves he'd turned had all consented to the transition after they realised they would never know the pain of an uncontrolled transition again, if they didn’t wish it - so she honestly felt happy for everyone rejoicing around her.

When Klaus walked over to her at the end of the night, she beamed lightly at him.

“What?” He was grinning, clearly in a high spirits at how well he was being received by his new pack. 

“Nothing – just wondering how this really grumpy guy I know became such a proud leader. Fatherhood really becomes you Klaus.” She winked cheekily.

He shoved her lightly to the side and smirked when she stumbled exaggeratedly.

“They’re going to pack up here now – then we might head further North - apparently there are more wolf packs there, and we still have a decent amount of the doppelgänger blood left. But, we are done here for the night,” He lifted his hand and gestured at the hybrids, raising his brows to mock her as she squinted at him. “Be a dear and teleport everything to the respective cars please. Come on, I haven’t got all night, love.”

Lis scoffed loudly. “So, I’m suddenly a convenient transport service, am I? _Hell no_ , I refuse to be subject to this.” She shoved him hard but huffed when he didn't even budge. Stepping back, she tightened her ponytail and set off wordlessly direction of their parked car, trying and failing to keep a dignified look on her face.

“For a self-proclaimed pacifist love, you really are quite violent.” He called after her before starting to follow, chuckling as she held a middle finger up in the air back in his direction while still walking away from him. Lis couldn't help laughing as well, as she reached the parked cars. He really _had_ grown on her. 

She wandered to a group of hybrids and offered her help. 

-

Annalise had gotten sidetracked while helping a hybrid carry two duffel bags to car nearby because Klaus had smirked at her smugly. She _was_ helping despite her initial complaints. She had poked her tongue at him in mature retaliation.

“Are you guys close? You were with Klaus before he picked us up.” The hybrid that had handed her the duffels to carry with a quick smile was now at her elbow. Brown hair cropped in a pixie cut, expressive equally brown eyes and mocha skin; this hybrid was familiar – she was one of the first Klaus had created back in Kansas.

Lis smiled at the hybrid awkwardly. “Oh uh...hi, I’m sorry I’ve um, been so rude. We never really ran into each other, did we? I’m Lis.”

“Mindy.” The hybrid smiled at her mischievously. “Do you like him?”

“He’s okay I guess, and he’s usually a lot grumpier, so I’ve never really seen him this happy. I didn't even know happiness existed on his emotional scale.” She joked, looking at a grinning Klaus talking to a hybrid a short distance away, before glancing back to an amused Mindy. The hybrid lifted an entertained eyebrow, and Lis's brain finally caught up on what Mindy was actually asking. 

“Oh! You mean _like_ like. Um, definitely not. I’ve known the guy for little over a week now, and sort of accidentally promised him lifelong servitude – y’know, as you do.”

Mindy giggled putting her pile in the boot of the car before reaching out and taking Lis’s as well. “So, you’re a witch working for Klaus then, Lis?”

“Of sorts.” Drawled a familiar accent when a smirking Klaus had appeared suddenly beside her. “Could I grab Lis off your hands for a minute Mindy? I’m sure she’s annoyed you enough,”

Lis rolled her eyes before smiling at Mindy and walking away, sighing when she heard Klaus catch up to her. “What do you need help with Klaus?” She crossed her arms with a quick grin.

Before he could answer, his cell phone started to ring. Looking at the called ID, he quirked an eyebrow, showing it to her. Stefan – he called often across the weeks they'd been travelling with bored regular updates on Elena during the day, (which Annalise listened to guiltily), but he hadn't ever called so late into the evening. Raising her brows in interest, she watched on as Klaus answered.

“Portland is fantastic; once you get over the whiney music and healthy-looking people, it is literally a breeding ground for werewolves.” He suddenly paused at Stefan's murmured reply, his eyes wide in shock. Anger flared in his eyes as he replied, voice low and dangerous when he spoke. “ _What_ did you say to me?”

Well, there goes his happy mood. Lis tilted her head in concern as he kept staring straight ahead, lips angrily thinned as he paced. “Well, first I want you to explain to me exactly _what happened_.” Lis saw moisture start to gather in his eyes, but they weren’t sad tears, no. Klaus’s eyes showed a blazing fury.

“I want to see him. I want to see his _rotting_ body for myself.” He waited until Stefan finished answering before saying, “If you are lying to me Stefan, your compulsion will expose you. So, answer with your _life_ – is what you are saying the truth?”

Lis walked over to where he stood with a hundred questions running through her mind. Klaus glanced at her, then asked for Rebekah; she must have been close by, because Klaus questioned her immediately.

“Rebekah, love. What’s this I hear about Mikael’s tragic run in with the dagger?”

Lis’s eyes widened in realisation. Mikael was awake – well, apparently not anymore, apparently. Daggered? Does that mean dead?

Klaus was already walking towards the hybrids and their car again, so she only caught the tail-end of their conversation. “I’ll be home soon.”

He gestured at all the hybrids who were finishing packing up to hurry, and climbed into the driver’s seat while Lis quietly in her own.

They were on the highway back to Mystic Falls in record time with a small convoy of cars filled with hybrids following close behind.

-

Annalise had no intention of breaking their silence – she could tell that Klaus had a lot on his mind so it was the least she could do to give his thoughts some privacy. It was close to an hour before Klaus finally spoke.

“I don’t believe them. My father, he isn’t dead.”

“But Stefan and Bekah-”

“I don’t know how they turned her, I want to believe her, but I won’t believe anyone until I see that body for myself. We will be there by tonight. I’ll track down all of them and if it turns out they’re lying they _will all_ die a gruesome death.”

Lis was quiet for a moment when she suddenly remembered her conversation with Rebekah. “I don’t think you’ll have to look for long – it’s the Homecoming ball tonight, Bekah was super excited about it. I reckon all the kids will be there.”

She saw Klaus nod before she thought about it more. “I shouldn’t tell you this. It feels wrong – like I’m choosing a side.” Klaus looked over in curiosity now. “Bekah, she called earlier tonight, it sounded like she’d been crying a lot. Like a full break down type of cry.” She watched Klaus’s brow furrow as he looked back to the road – focused but a bit concerned. “She told me earlier that Elena was digging around in your family's history, then she asked if you’d told me anything about your mother, and the circumstances of her death. I told her that I only knew that she died shortly after she cursed you.” She saw his knuckles whiten as he gripped the wheel harder. “Could that have something to do with why you think she’s lying?”

He was quiet for a long time.

When he did choose to break the silence next his words caused her to look at him in shock. “I killed her. I killed my mother.”

Tears in his eyes glistened making them shine brighter, but they didn’t fall. Lis looked forwards again, thinking the statement over in her mind. She had already known that Klaus was a morally compromised person who’d done terrible things in the past. This didn’t really change her view of him, but instead consolidated her thoughts on his character. It wasn't as if the Original Witch here was blameless anyway - she had after all cursed her child, much like her own parents had tried to hurt her. 

Klaus had clearly had enough of her silence. “What? Have you finally realised that I’m truly the monster that the stories make me out be?” He spat.

She looked at him with an uncomfortable but warm smile before looking away in deep thought, trying to find her words.

“You probably remember what I told you about my parents. When they were cut off from the magic and kicked out of the coven. When the magic that they coveted - that central part of them that made them feel happy and whole was ripped away from them, it was like they felt mad but empty all at once. It was like they were in this constant mood of dispersed anger. You never knew when it was going to concentrate and lash out at someone, but you always knew it was coming."

She looked downwards and fiddled with a frayed string at the bottom of her baggy jumper. "Losing their magic broke them. Locking your werewolf part away, the magical nature that was subdued in you, must have felt so unnatural, so wrong. You lashed out in the same way my parents did. It makes sense, as horrible as it sounds. And as for killing your mother – it must have been awful, but I’m probably the last person in the world who could judge you for it.”

Klaus’s voice was soft. “You didn’t kill your parents.”

“But it was _my_ fault Klaus. I might as well have killed them. Point is; I understand. What happened was terrible and _nasty_ and all kinds of bad, and I’m not going to try to justify it, but I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

When Lis glanced back at Klaus, his eyes were free of any tears; in fact, he was looking quite solemn, but more relaxed. She sent him a tight-lipped smile and looked away. It was another moment before he spoke.

“Presuming that my dear sister got wind of what really happened to our mother, it’s safe to say that we will be walking into a trap. The best thing we can do is to walk into the trap prepared, and face them on our terms.”

“And how do you reckon we do that, Klaus?”

“We host the party of course.” He smirked at her; she could see him already start to plan ahead. “We need to move the venue of the Homecoming dance so I can have my hybrids around me without raising too much suspicion.”

“It’s probably going to be held at the school, a random group of adults and complete strangers would be pretty obvious. Smart. Is there a place a large number of hybrids could be invited into? As well as a plausible place for a Homecoming dance, so things aren’t too suspicious?”

Klaus’s smirk widened. “Looks like I need to call my very first hybrid.”

-

They had arrived at Mystic falls after driving through the night in record time. Klaus sent his hybrids ahead to somewhere else in Mystic Falls, and then had told her to get adequate rest – Stefan had been under compulsion to tell the truth when he told Klaus that he’d seen Elena dagger Mikael with his own eyesthat meant that Mikael was indeed in Mystic Falls, probably working together with Elena’s friends. Klaus had explained the concept of daggering on the drive here, and it still sound so barbaric and violent - but to have staged it to lure Klaus back? Mikael was truly something else. She needed to be charged and ready to use her magic against who appeared to now be the most powerful Original Vampire.

She had been informed that Tyler flooded the school gymnasium in order to move the party to his house. It had been Lis’s job to actually organise the party itself. It really wasn't too much trouble; money really greased the small town wheels, so to speak. She had sent Mindy and a few other hybrids to grab the expensive and _very_ extra decorations that Klaus had ordered on short notice, then recruited a couple hybrids to start putting them up across the Lockwood estate at warp speed.

All she had to do was call up a local live band and help them set up their equipment on the lawn after promising them double-pay. Mindy had rolled her eyes and called her an amateur before using compulsion to get them to do the whole gig for free.

Instead of arguing with Mindy, she had moved over to the improvised set-up refreshments table appraising it with a critical eye. It wasn't like it was _her_ money to toss around after all. As long as no one got hurt, Annalise tended to let them get away with a great deal of thing.

Klaus walked over to her and poured himself some punch.

“Well done Lissie, who’d have thought you were such a party planner?”

She rolled her eyes at him over the rim of her glasses before smirking. “Certainly not me. Apparently I'm an amateur. Hey, reckon you could actually pay the band instead of compelling them to work for free?” He just smirked back like she should know better. Lis shrugged and moved on. “By the way, I noticed like, more than half your hybrid army’s missing Klaus – what have you got them doing? I thought this party was the only thing that needed to be done?”

Klaus shrugged a heavy arm around her shoulders and turned them both around so they were looking out at the few hybrids who were taking care of some last-minute decorations out on the large lawn.

“There’s always things to be done love. Since you had everything handled so well here, I gave them an extra few errands to run – to make staying here at Mystic Falls a bit more permanent. Don’t worry, Lissie, they’ll be here when the party starts.”

Well...that was suspiciously vague.

“Right…okay, I’m gonna head up and get changed into something more suited for the occasion. See you in a bit.” She squinted at his wide grin before shrugging his arm off and walking back up the stairs.

She ran into Tyler on the way up into his house. They exchanged awkward smiles and kept walking before Tyler paused and called out to her. 

“Hey, uh…Lis, right? I never thanked you, for that night at the school. For not hurting Caroline.”

She gave the boy a small smile. “Tyler, you don’t have to thank me for not hurting someone, least of all your girlfriend. It’s what any decent person would do.”

“Well, decent people are pretty hard to come by, so thanks for being decent anyway.” He gave her an easy smile that made her chuckle.

“Sure kid, okay.”

Passing him a kind smile, she turned on her heel and walked up the stairs pretending to ignore the teen mutter “Kid?” under his breath while walking away with what looked like a box filled with beer.

Annalise found an empty room as she heard the crowd of kids come in and the sounds of the band starting up and closed the door shut behind her. Leaning against it, she breathed lightly for a moment before walking to the closet to stand in front of a convenient floor length mirror. Her outfit was casual, but Klaus had wanted her to change into something that blended in with the highschoolers, not missing the chance to take a dig at her height, just to make sure she didn’t draw Mikael’s attention until they needed to.

After taking a long look at the clothes she had on, she slipped her black heeled boots and blue ripped jeans off. Taking a good look at the simple black v neck shirt she had on, she muttered _“Velim vestem evolvant.”_ and watched as the bottom of her shirt grew to her knees and lengthened enough to look like a dress, cinching at her waist. It was a simple black dress; and her black boots would match perfectly.

Easy. She loved her magic.Annalise grinned at herself before running her hands through her thick hair. She honestly couldn’t be bothered doing anything with it, so she folded her jeans up, tucked them in her large handbag, and walked down to the party below.

There was a lot of people now, but she could also see Mindy in a corner, as well as other hybrids dispersed throughout the crowd of high schoolers. Wondering where Klaus was, she made her way through the crowds into the back yard to where the party was raging. She smugly paused on the high steps giving her an unobstructed view of the party, it actually wasn’t half bad. She gave herself a mental pat on her back.

The band ended their song and she saw a familiar figure climb up and grab the mic. She rolled her eyes but stayed where she was; if she climbed any further down the stairs, she wouldn’t be able to see over the heads of everyone in front of her. 

“Good evening everyone! I wanna thank you for being here with me to celebrate! It’s been a long time coming.” Klaus raised his arms wide in a dramatic gesture and Lis found herself fondly smirking and rolling her eyes at his theatrics. She'd come to find that her first impression of Klaus hadn't been _completely_ wrong - he was artistic and theatrical, just not so much into peace as he was into scheming. After climbing back off the stage, she saw him make eye contact with Stefan at the bottom of the stairs, and make his way across the lawn to him.

She exhaled and climbed down the stairs to meet the two men. Klaus regarded her as she joined the small group, watching her exchange nods and a smile with Stefan before she looked towards him with a grin. Klaus grinned back and looked towards Stefan who started to speak.

“Quite the Homecoming.”

Klaus smirked, gesturing that the two of them follow him up the stairs. “I’ve been planning my father’s funeral for a thousand years. Granted, in no version of it were any of these people invited, but you get the idea.”

“So, what now? Stop running?” Lis followed but made no move to interrupt – she was distracted, something felt wrong. There was something missing. 

She heard Klaus hum. “Now, I reunite my family.”

Well, that was news to her. At least Rebekah will be pleased, -pause. She frowned realising exactly what was feeling off. Shouldn’t she have bumped into Bekah by now? She was looking forwards to meeting up with her. Lis realised she was missing the conversation going on in front of her as she caught sight of a tiara resting on the head of a passing girl. That definitely wasn’t right, Bekah would have done anything to be Homecoming Queen.

She interrupted Stefan who was still in the middle of his sentence. “Wait, where’s Bekah? I just saw someone wearing the Homecoming crown; but she was boasting about getting it tonight. Do you know where she is?”

“I have no idea. I thought she was coming with Matt.”

Klaus’s eyes sharpened as they met hers before they both looked at a suspiciously undeterred Stefan. Klaus moved closer to the emotionless vampire. “Oh, be honest now, Stefan. Don’t be rude and answer Lissie; where’s my sister?”

Stefan squared his shoulders, looking directly into Klaus' eyes, challenging him. “I said I have no idea. How would you like me to take you to your father?”

Annalise's eyes met Klaus’ again as they flicked at her, she thinned her lips. That was an incredibly obvious deflection...something was definitely up. Stefan wasn’t great at hiding things, even if he didn’t know exactly what he was trying to hide. Him and the others had obviously found a loophole in Klaus’s compulsion. Klaus saw her look and nodded smirking lightly. They had planned for this.

“Well, it wouldn’t be a party without the guest of honour, would it? Bring him to me.” The Original Hybrid grinned victoriously.

Stefan’s eyes betrayed that Klaus requesting Mikael’s body to be brought to him wasn’t part of the plan, but he straightened up and shrugged it off. “All right. Perhaps there’s something in it for me?” He paused before continuing. “My freedom from your compulsion?”

That sounded reasonable – Lis was definitely all for giving Stefan his free will back – she was already nodding along, sending a pleading glance at Klaus who looked at the both of them and smirked smugly. “You want your freedom. Well, once he is dead and his weapon destroyed, you shall have your freedom. It’ll be my pleasure to give it back.”

Stefan nodded and left to presumably go get the body, and Klaus offered up his arm to a grinning Lis; who looped her own arm through his and started walking up the stairs beside him. “Well that was awfully generous of you.”

He just shrugged at her in a pleased manner before his eyes met Tyler’s. Annalise saw Tyler look at Klaus significantly, he wanted to talk then. Privately. Letting go of Klaus' arm, she continued up the stairs even after Klaus had stopped beside Tyler, patting the young boy on the shoulder as she passed him. “I need a drink, and I also saw a beer pong table. It’s calling me, I can feel it.”

Tyler grinned up at her before turning to engage Klaus in conversation, so Lis continued climbing up before pausing by Elena and Matt further up the stairs, giving them both an unsure smile. “Hey guys, how you been?”

Oddly, it seemed as if Elena didn’t recognise her, and Lis could see her lips start to form a question; but she was quickly distracted when Matt smiled at her far too widely and said “Annalise!” in a loud voice drawing a couple people’s attention towards their little trio. She tried to awkwardly match his weirdly wide smile.

“Just Lis will do Matt. So, are you guys okay? Elena how have you been?” Elena’s eyes had narrowed at her thoughtfully before she smiled too. “Ah. Hi Lis, I’ve been fine.”

“That's good. I’m glad you’re dealing.” Lis smiled at her before she slowly brought her in for a hug, not missing the small look of shock on Elena’s face. Something was wrong, she felt it the second she touched Elena’s skin, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She smiled at Elena gently in reply. “I’m very happy to hear that Elena,”

She turned to Matt with a quick smile before turning back to the girl. “Well, I hope the two of you have fun, I was on a mission to find some alcohol and I need to complete it.”

Annalise waved and walked away from the duo into the house, speeding up when saw a refreshments table. She hadn't been lying when she said she wanted alcohol. It'd been a while since she'd been to a party. Grabbing an unused red plastic cup, she filled it with some punch and took a sip, Yes! It's spiked! 

She giggled to herself. Damn, she’d make a horrible adult.

Mindy had noticed her and was waving her over to the corner where a beer pong table was set up. A couple more of Klaus’s hybrids as they surrounded it, talking loudly. As she walked over, Mindy greeted her with a hug.

“Damn girl. You cute.”

“Not as cute as you.” She winked back. Mindy rolled her eyes, took Lis’s phone out of her hand to snap a quick photo of the both of them. Then, it was a whirlwind of introductions to several cute hybrids, Alex and Tom seemed the friendliest. There was another in the corner that Mindy introduced as Tony, but he didn’t seem keen on making conversation. She waved at him anyway, and got into the game.

Lis felt Klaus sidle up next to her a couple minutes later and felt herself grin. “What took you so long?”

“Just had a quick talk with Tyler and Elena, both seemed nervous.”

She looked up at Klaus and moved closer to his side so she could whisper to him. “Speaking of Elena, something’s wrong with her. Last week when I met her, she only had the tiniest bit of magic in her, enough to prove she’s a doppelgänger. Tonight, she has about as much magic essence as a vampire, _and_ she called me Lis after it looked like she didn’t recognise me. I don’t know why.”

Klaus clearly figured it out in an instant, however; he hissed lowly. “Katherine.”

“Ah, that’s the vampire doppelgänger that stole Bekah’s necklace, right?” She felt Klaus nod as his eyes flicked over everyone in their vicinity, cataloguing them carefully.

He leaned closer to her ear as he did. “They’re definitely up to something love,” He took her cup of alcoholic punch out of her hand. “Stay sharp.”

“If you think I’m gonna get tipsy off a weak-ass high school American party punch I’ll-” She cut herself off mid scoff and squinted in the direction of the study, making Klaus to follow her eye line to the shut door as well. “Klaus, someone just used magic. Quite a bit of it. Felt like Bonnie.” Klaus had just started moving in the direction of the Lockwood study when he was intercepted by Mindy, who Lis hadn’t noticed was missing.

“You have a visitor.”

Klaus still had his eyes fixated on the study door, stalking towards it. “Tell my visitor I’m busy Mindy.”

Mindy’s stopped him in his tracks once more, her next words froze both of them.

“He said his name is Mikael.”


	8. Homecoming Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week went by so quickly!! This chapter has an action scene in it - my first ever!! I hope I did it justice :))  
> Enjoy :D
> 
> Update - revised!

Liz let her eyes slowly shut in disappointment, too late to miss the flash of resignation and hurt in Klaus’s eyes. Their suspicions were true; Rebekah and Stefan had lied to him about Mikael. She reached out and patted him on the arm awkwardly, and his mask was back once more, passing her a quick nod. He faced his hybrids with renewed anger, gesturing them to gather around.

“Then we mustn’t keep him waiting, Move everyone out back. I’m gonna have a little chat with my dad. Tony,” He pointed to the quiet hybrid who had been lurking near the wall - he stood at attention at Klaus’s urgent tone. “You know what to do.”

As Tony and Mindy nodded and walked away solemnly with the rest of the hybrids walking close behind, Klaus looks at Lis, who remained unmoving. “Lissie, leave with Tony.”

She just shook her head resolutely.

Klaus sighed, but didn’t argue further. In the time he'd known her, he had come to realise just how stubborn she was when her mind had been made up. Instead, he strode through the living room and around the corner to the front door, coming face to face with a tall, sharply dressed man in a three piece suit standing at the awning of the door. The polite yet detached smile on his face as he looked towards Klaus sent a cold shiver down Lis' spine. His cold ice blue gaze passed over her in a quick glance, visibly dismissing her as she stood slightly to the right of Klaus, focusing instead on the Original Hybrid and narrowing in judgement as he appraised him. His voice was low and unhurried.

“Hello, Niklaus.”

Klaus smirked, but his gaze was dangerous. “Hello, Mikael. Why don't you come in? Oh, that's right. I forgot you can't.”

“Or you can come outside if you want.”

“Or I could watch my hybrids tear you limb from limb.” Klaus's words were like a signal that called Tony, Alex and more than a dozen other Hybrids to gather on the lawn behind Mikael threateningly - the vampire being threatened didn't look fazed at all. This just put Lis on her guard more. It was a bad sign Mikael wasn't fazed. 

“They can't kill me.” He shook his head as he turned back with the same politely pitying smile still on his face. 

“True. But it'll make a hell of a party game." Klaus smirked, lifting his hand with his fingers poised to snap. "All I have to do is rub these two fingers together, and they'll pounce.”

Mikael looked thoroughly amused and condescending at the same time. “The big _bad_ wolf. You haven't changed.” His confidence was off-putting in the face of his threats - Klaus’s smile slowly dropped. He had caught on that something was wrong too. Mikael's act wasn't truly and act.

Mikael's grin widened as he watched a slight fear grow in his son's eyes. “Still hiding behind your playthings like a coward. You only forget. They may be sired by you, but they're still part vampire. And they can be compelled by me.”

_Shit._ Lis’s eyes widened, and she went to take a miniscule step forwards when a compelled Mindy dragged a visibly struggling Elen- no, Katherine, next to Mikael.

A twitch of Klaus’s hand warned her not to draw attention to herself. Mikael saw this small exchange and shot her a curious glance, this time looking a lot more interested than earlier. His eyes lingered for a bit before he turned back to give Klaus an ultimatum.

“Come out and face me, Niklaus. Or she dies.”

Klaus was quick to reply with a small smile. “Go ahead. Kill her.”

Of course Klaus had no qualms about Katherine being killed - not after she had slighted him and evoked his wrath for nearly 500 years - all the better she died instead of his doppelgänger. Lis narrowed her eyes at his blasé attitude; he must think it was poetic. Inhaling lightly, she turned away and chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying her best to stay silent and see how this pans out. She had to trust that Klaus knew what he was doing, and that he was above carrying out his petty revenge fantasies in a dire situation like the one they were in right now.

Katherine whimpered at his lack of empathy. “No, Klaus. He'll do it.” Damn...she was really selling this. If Lis couldn't feel that she was so clearly a vampire, she wouldn't have been able to stop herself from reaching out to the young scared looking girl. Annalise wondered if Mikael knew that it was Katherine - or if he knew, and he had no problems with killing her violently anyway, and pretending it was Elena to hurt Klaus.

It seemed that neither Mikael nor Katherine knew the extent of Annalise's powers yet, that was a silver lining. 

Mikael steadied a dagger he had produced from his jacket, pressing it to Katherine's side. “If she dies, this lot will be last of your abominations.” Lis felt her own indignation grow, her lips pressed together to keep herself from speaking out. His detached attitude was starting to get on her nerves. 

Nik wavered, but stood his ground firmly. “I don't need them. I just need to be rid of you.”

Mikael's cool facade finally shifted into a cruel scowl. “To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever, with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one. No one.”

Lis saw Klaus’s eyes tear up slightly and she just couldn’t hold herself back any longer. “How _dare_ you?” She stepped around Klaus and in front of him, she was outside the house boundaries, but she could honestly care less. “Who the hell are you to speak to him like that?”

Mikael leaned back slightly, shocked. He clearly must have thought she was yet another compelled minion. “I’m-”

“You are _no one._ You aren’t even his real father, so what are you even _doing_ here? Let me just ask you this: does it _please_ you? Does it make you feel _strong_ that a child you helped raise has to fear death from you? Does it make you feel powerful?”

She felt Klaus grab her hand and pull her back into the safety of the house just as Mikael took a step forwards in anger, but she couldn’t help but say her parting words. 

“Men like you _disgust_ me.”

For a split second, Annalise got a glimpse of Katherine smirking lightly to the side – her gaze was narrowed, studying Lis's scowl. As soon as Lis looked at her fully, she immediately went back to acting like a nervous wreck. Mikael’s attention was fortunately focused on how Klaus had placed Lis behind him.

“I'm calling your bluff, father. Kill her.” His soft grasp on Lis’s hand tightened but she didn’t say a word because she understood – this was a threat, a warning not to annoy Mikael any further.

“Come outside and face me, you little coward. And I won't have to.” Mikael smirked.

Lis glared at Mikael, moving to step forwards once more, but Klaus squeezed her hand gently again in a cautionary manner while he spoke up strongly. “My whole life you've underestimated me. If you kill her you lose your leverage. So go ahead. Go on. Kill her. Come on, old man. Kill her. Kill her!!!” Klaus roared the last two words. Obviously he was entirely too satisfied of the fact that it was Katherine there, not Elena – he wasn’t bluffing.

Only Lis didn’t completely agree with _that_ statement – she didn’t think Katherine should die, especially if she had come in Elena’s place to keep her safe. She’d heard bad things about her, sure – but Lis liked to form her own opinions; right now she was withholding judgement until she met her formally. She breathed deep and prepared herself to pull Katherine to her side.

Mikael’s casual chuckle sent shivers down her spine. “Your impulse, Niklaus. It has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great.”

Lis saw Mikael’s hands pull back slightly and brace to stab Katherine, so she _pulled_ Katherine using magic to her side. Mikael’s dagger punctured thin air, his head whipped in her direction in surprise to see Katherine safe at Lis’s side.

Klaus let out a smug entertained laugh.

A grin had started to form on Lis's face as well, but it dropped suddenly as she turned away from Katherine to look lightly behind her; she felt something supernatural come up fast behind them. Annalise moved on instinct, pushing Klaus away from a sharp stake that had appeared behind them-

“Klaus _look out!”_

The next second she was outside pressed tightly against the outer wall of the house, a strong thin arm held her neck against it forcefully, choking her. Kathrine had super-sped her outside while Klaus was being attacked.

Okay, she made her judgement; Katherine was a _bitch._

Annalise heard sounds of a fight echoing from indoors, Klaus was grappling with a magical signature that she associated with Damon while Mikael remained outside. Shit, they had focused on only him. Lis needed to get inside, now - thankfully, Mikael hadn't yet ordered in the hybrids currently under his compulsion to overpower Klaus, or not yet realised he could, but she wasn't going to wait around to find out.

Snapping back into reality, she found Katherine still smirking at her. "Hi, lovely."

Lis smirked right back. “Hey. Nice to meet you. _Iaculatio.”_

The vampire’s smirk dropped like a stone as she was catapulted backwards forcefully with a small _boom_ , right into the front lawn where the rest of the hybrids were with a thump - skidding back and ruining the beautiful lawn with a shallow gouge five feet long. Without wasting a moment, Annalise flashed back into the house, _just_ missing Mikael punching where she once stood with a large amount of force – right where her heart would’ve been. Fuck, that would’ve killed her.

Ignoring her heart _pounding_ at her near death, and Mikael’s roar of anger at the door he couldn’t get through, Lis realised that Katherine had whipped out two metal canisters from the folds of her dress, pulled two pins out of them – _are those shitting grenades?!? –_ and hurled them at the hybrids coming up to help Mikael after he'd finally realised they could walk in.

Wait – why was Katherine helping them now? Who’s side was she on?

The hybrids collapsed immediately, coughing violently in the sickly-sweet cloud of vervain. Lis heard the sound of struggle between Klaus and Damon – the hybrids were dealt with adequately for now - so she went to turn to face the fight behind her. 

Before her head had even begun turning, a sharp pain exploded in her right jaw, and the force sent her head whipping to the left as a white blinding pain obscured her vision. Blood collected at the back of her mouth as she fell back against the wall behind her, turning to her assailant. Mindy – she had forgotten about her compelled friend. She'd been far away enough from the vervain grenades to not have it affect her.

Her jaw smarted – maybe it was dislocated – Lis went to clench her jaw out of habit while facing her friend and her jaw fell lax and _hurt more,_ and _Oh my god, she'd never fought anyone before-_

Mindy lunged towards her again, throwing her back hard against the wall once more, Lis let out a yelp of pain before swinging widely, laying a solid punch on her attacker, pushing her back just a bit before raising her hand. _“Somnum!”_

More blood filled her mouth, she felt a little escape out of her lips, the pain had grown blinding once more as she's spoken. It felt rewarding, however, seeing Mindy collapse to the ground in dead sleep.

Wincing and pushing off the wall lightly, Annalise raised a hand to her jaw and channeled as much of her magic into it, muttering multiple _“Sana.”_ healing spells once she felt she could move her jaw without fainting in pain. She felt her jaw click back into place stiffly – but Lis was soon distracted from her residual pain when a grunt of effort came from the foyer - Damon had gotten the upper hand on Klaus in the tussle and he was trying to press a pale wooden stake into Klaus’s chest.

She let her healing spell go and raised her weak arm at Damon and whispered, _“Obscillo.”_ just as Stefan arrived to tackle a pained and screaming Damon with a broken arm (oops) off of Klaus, and into a hold on the floor. The stake conveniently rolled near her feet.

Ignoring the scuffling Salvatore brothers, she made eye contact with Klaus and understood – she threw him the stake and just watched as Klaus, almost gracefully, leapt out the house and drove the stake right into Mikael’s chest in one fluid motion.

Everyone paused.

There was a moment of shocked realisation on Mikael’s face before he screamed in pain, collapsing on to his knees. There was a burst of fire in his chest where the stake was imbedded; Lis watched on as Mikael’s corpse rapidly greyed then burst into flames, leaving behind nothing but ash.

The tension that had kept her on guard dissipated, and Annalise fell back against the wall, grimacing as the pain in her jaw hit her again. Ow, when had her back gotten bruised too? Groaning she lifted her hand to her cheek and muttered more healing spells until she felt she was well enough to stand. She closed her eyes and collapsed down, leaning against the wall, spent.

Sounds sounded slightly muffled as it filtered through her exhausted mind...Damon was understandably yelling at Stefan – sure she knew that Stefan would do damn near anything to get his freedom back from Klaus, but stopping his own brother from _killing_ Klaus? From doing the _same thing_ that Stefan probably wanted to do? That didn't make sense. Lis found it strange. 

Apparently Klaus found it nice.

Klaus's firm voice answered Damon’s furious “What did you do?!”

“He's earned his freedom.” 

She opened her eyes to watch Stefan release his brother and turn to face the Original Hybrid expectantly. Klaus stared at him for a long moment, studying him before looking at him warmly. “Thank you my friend. You no longer have to do as I say. You're free.”

Stefan's stoic face remained expressionless, but Lis noticed relief flood his eyes - he turned back to look to the empty floor where Damon had laid. Damn, she hadn’t even noticed Damon and Katherine disappear. That made her huff amusedly in exhaustion, bringing both men’s attention to her. Stefan didn’t move but looked on silently as Klaus side stepped around him to crouch down low next to Lis.

“Are you okay, Lissie?”

“I’m fine, here, give me your hand.” Instead he gripped her shoulders and pulled her up to her feet easily. “I told you to give me your hand, not _man-_ handle me. I’m fine I healed myself see?” She showed her reddened but healed jaw proudly. 

“Why did you do that?” His eyes felt searching, like he was looking for an answer that didn't make sense. 

“Why did I do what? Heal myself? Um…it _hurt_ …?”

Klaus shook his head, and both turned at a small gust of wind passing next to them and out the front door; Stefan had also decided to leave. The hybrids were slowly filtering back in, walking past them timidly, and through the house into the back lawn where the party was still surprisingly happening. Mindy groaned and woke, clutching her head. Lis watched as Alex helped her get up; bringing her to face Klaus and Annalise. 

“I’m sorry Klaus, Lissie. Mikael got the drop on us – we weren’t ready. We won’t disappoint you again.”

Klaus remained silent, so Lissie stepped forwards, waving away her friend’s concerned look and showed off her healed jaw again, prompting a smile from Mindy. "No worries, Mindy. No hard feelings. Go on, go. You guys have fun at the party." 

She pushed at Alex and Mindy with a bright smile in the direction of the back yard; Mindy rolled her eyes but nodded in silent thanks as she walked away. 

Turning back, Lis looked closely at the Original Hybrid. He didn’t seem to be meeting anyone’s eyes, he didn't really look as tall as he usually did either. Klaus's eyes looked heavy, as if he was conflicted with too many emotions to identify. He must have felt her concerned gaze on him because he looked up at her suddenly.

Annalise gave him a warm smile. “Uh, I have to get changed upstairs really quick. I'm insanely tired, so did you want to leave, maybe have an early night?”

He nodded at her and sent her a tight-lipped smile before walking out the front door towards the car. Taking that as the go ahead, she ran up, changed back into her original outfit and appeared in the passenger seat next Klaus in record time. He started driving immediately, used to her appearing suddenly next to him now.

Lis filled the silence awkwardly. “So like, when I said early night, I also forgot to mention I'm just a bit hungry. I eat my feelings, so I honestly wouldn't mind a burger or like a chicken salad for me, but like, I forgot I was being super inconsiderate. Do you need to eat your feelings too, like- like a- a person? Blood? Do you need a certain flav- flavour? Oh gosh that sounds horrible. I make you sound like Hannibal Lector.”

Klaus’s lip twitched but he kept looking ahead. Lis sighed, deflating. How on earth do you even start a conversation about the recent murder of an abusive parent?

“Okay…then. Um…not great at making people feel better, but I hear it’s handy to talk your feelings out? So uh…you killed your dad. How- how’d that make you feel?” She threw him an awkward smile when he glanced at her with an eyebrow lifted.

“I feel ecstatic love. It’s been a thousand years coming.” His tone felt final as he turned back towards the road. 

“Right. Of course.” She inhaled and turned away; she didn’t want to push too much – and it didn’t seem like Klaus was ready to open up. Lis decided to give up for the time being. But not too long, of course, she was an interfering person – and she was proud of it. It’s how she showed she cared.

Annalise stayed quiet as Klaus pulled up next to a diner and told her to stay in the car while he left to go grab some food. Lis didn’t mind either way and shrugged, playing with her phone while she waited.

Rebekah still hadn’t texted her back. Lis knew that she'd been involved in the plot to lure Klaus back with the daggered-Mikael bait, but at this point, she was starting to get worried. She was sure her friend would've reached out by now. Maybe she was scared at how Klaus would react. The car door opened, and a brown paper bag was deposited in her lap startling a small “Thanks,” from her as Klaus got comfortable in his seat again; driving in the direction of the small BnB they were temporarily staying at.

Lis had point blank refused to let Klaus compel the poor old lady and just set up a barrier around the BnB so only they could enter. It was a foolproof solution – and Klaus hadn’t argued because of its simplistic ease.

They didn’t talk until they arrived outside the doors of their respective rooms.

Before Klaus went to open his door and walk in, Lis grabbed his sleeve, making him pause and look back at her. Annalise stepped forwards and quickly wrapped her arms under his, giving him a quick squeeze before stepping back immediately.

Klaus’s eyes were wide, like a deer in headlights. He stood in a defensive position, waiting for her to explain.

“Uh…This might be too soon, but um, your dad was a dick,” Annalise shrugged. “No offense. But that being said, he was still your dad, once upon a time. It’s okay to not know how to feel about it. Just, don’t keep it in, I’m here if you wanna talk, yeah? I’m going to be around for a while, so word of warning, expect me to be annoying about it.”

Lis withdrew as she saw sudden anger and suspicion spark in his eyes, and took another step back, unsure.

“Why do you _do_ that? We met not even a fortnight ago, and yet here you are; already privy to more details of my life than some of my family! You even spoke up for me against Mikael’s ire! _What_ is you motive?” He growled stepping forwards. "Who do you work for?!"

Lis raised her hands up placatingly, stepping further backwards cautiously. “Yikes, okay. Not the reaction I was expecting. I don't work for anyone, and I’m just trying to look out for you here. One; your dad was being an arsehole. Two; You’ve been pretty decent in the time I’ve known you. I mean, you did terrorise some kids and a few werewolf packs, but like, I get _why_ you did what you did. I just wish you didn’t have to do it. To be honest with you, I've sorta realised I’m pretty morally grey since I’ve started hanging around you." Lis shrugged helplessly and ran a stressful hand through her hair. "Look, I’m just worried for you; I’m trying to be a good friend here.”

“I am not your _friend_ love. I’m The _Original Hybrid_. I don’t need your worry.” Klaus was seething at this point – it was too bad Lis knew what insecurity looked like. He was practically a walking poster-child for it. Annalise made the decision right then and there to force her friendship on him no matter how much he resisted, dammit.

“Too bad grumpy. _You_ ,” she poked his chest, “are stuck with _me_ remember? On your terms. You don’t get to decide whether I consider you my friend or not.”

He leaned down and hissed with narrowed eyes. “Not. Your. _Friend_.”

“And I. _Don’t_. Care. You and Bekah are literally the only people I really know right now, and I get attached really easily. Must be my childhood trauma acting up." She flashed him an awkward smile. “So, since we are now friends, and you call me Lissie, like my closest friend did,” She stepped away from him, shrugged and gave him a shit eating grin while entering her room; “Sleep tight…Nik.”

She was in her room with the door locked grinning before Klaus had time to lunge at her.

-

The next morning, they were all packed and ready to leave Mystic Falls far behind. Klaus, or rather Nik - cue evil internal laughter _-_ had only rolled his eyes every time she addressed him as such when they had breakfast. Pity, she had been hoping it would annoy him more.

Annalise guessed it was because he was in such a good mood. Apparently he had come to terms with his father’s death over the course of the night before. He was grinning without pause – the first words he had said to her were, “Good morning Lissie. Such a _fine_ day, isn’t it?”

It seemed like nothing would get him down. She nodded and went along with it – she understood. Mikael’s existence had hung over Nik’s head forever. It must feel nice, freeing; once you get over the macabre nature of it all, of course.

They were now walking to a parking lot together – the one which Rebekah had commandeered a week ago to deposit Nik’s precious cargo truck after his impromptu freak out over Mikael coming to Mystic Falls. Annalise had brought up the fact that Rebekah still hadn’t reached out to her and that she was getting worried. Nik had initially still been hung up on the fact that she had conspired with the Salvatores and Mikael to kill him, but as she reminded him family was in short supply and that Rebekah was pretty great to have around.

Klaus was calling her now to leave her a voice message.

“Rebekah, where are you? Pick up the phone darling. Daddy’s dead.” He glanced sideways at Lis with a smirk as she sniggered immaturely into her palm. “And I forgive you. It’s time for a family reunion.”

Nik took the phone away from his ear as it beeped signalling another call coming through. After a quick glance at his screen he gestured at Lis to catch up to his fast pace and put the call on speaker. “Stefan! Miss me already?”

This made Lis grin – “Hi Stefan!” She yelled. Lis was glad he was free of Nik’s compulsion once more; it was one of the more unsavoury things Klaus had done in her opinion; taking away someone’s free will was a pretty big deal - so she was glad that everything had worked out well.

“Uh, right, hi Annalise. Klaus, I’m calling to thank you for my freedom.” Lis pouted at Stefan’s uncomfortable tone as had addressed her. She listened as the conversation continued and they made their way around a few more trucks parked close by.

Annalise looked out across the car park towards their truck as Nik replied. “Oh, I like to believe I’m a man of my word, more or less.”

Lis’s eyes narrowed suddenly, something felt off as they approached it, it felt strangely empty of magic – she hadn’t realised it earlier because she had been so distracted. She grabbed Nik’s sleeve, and he squinted at her sudden panic, prompting him to walk faster. Stefan’s next words made her pause, eyes widening.

“Thing is, it came at too high of a price. You took everything from me, Klaus.”

That was more than enough information to put together the missing magic signatures and Stefan. _Shit._ She let go of Klaus and jogged over to the truck a few metres away. Please don’t tell me Stefan’s dumb enough to do this…

She heard Nik follow close behind while replying. “Let bygones be bygones, trust me. Resentment gets old.”

Lis fiddled with the latch and threw the rear truck door up and open, revealing a chillingly empty container. She whipped her head around to face Nik just as she heard Stefan’s tinny voice carry through loudspeaker on the phone.

“You know what never gets old? Revenge.”

Her breath stuttered as she saw Nik’s face transform into absolute fury. “ _No._ ”

“What’s the matter Klaus? Missing something?”

Props for dramatic timing, but not so much for making my job so much harder to protect the collateral - curse him. Stefan wouldn’t stop talking, and Lis scrambled out of the way as Nik strode forwards to inspect the empty container, then start pacing angrily.

“What are you doing?” Nik’s familiar angry growl had made a comeback.

“Just enjoying my freedom.”

“I will kill you and _everyone_ you’ve ever met!”

Stefan’s voice was disturbingly calm. “You do that, and you’ll never see your family again. I wonder Klaus, as someone who’s been one step ahead for a thousand years…were you prepared for this?” 

Nik’s expression promised death as he wrenched his phone away from his ear, walking around to the front of the truck in fury. In his own twisted way, he had clearly thought that he had finally convinced Stefan to be his friend the night before - then to have him turn right back around and screw him over? Lis kinda started to understand why Nik was so adamant about not having friends. 

Time to prove him wrong then. Annalise took a moment, inhaled deeply, then sat on the ground to the side of the truck; legs crossed and eyes closed. This was Nik’s family; _Bekah’s_ family. Stefan was clearly out for blood and he didn’t care about anyone caught in the crossfire. Knowing Nik, he’d go after Elena, or Damon, and countless others and she didn’t want to see any people hurt. Lis fucking _hated_ personal vendettas. 

She stretched out her senses, welcoming in any residual magic left on the premises. It was faint, but still there. Annalise expanded her reach slowly but steadily, not letting herself get distracted when she heard Klaus on the phone with one of his hybrids.

Lis had been trying to follow the signatures the coffins had left behind, when all at once she felt the signatures vanish – she scanned the entire town a few times more, but each time she found Mystic Falls to be empty. Suspiciously empty. 

She realised she couldn’t even feel Nik who was only a couple _metres_ away, pacing, or any background magic around her. What the hell?

Steeling herself, she stretched out further, to just outside the city limits – she felt the power of nature’s magic hit her full force, like normal. She drew the range inwards once more, so she was within the city limits, and felt the resonance of magic in dampen down again. Ah...she understood.

Annalise stood up, dusted her jeans off and made her way to Nik, still on the phone ordering hybrids around, even telling a few to search neighbouring cities and sniff around some of the their storage units.

Lis tapped him on the arm, prompting him to glance at her impatiently.

“The coffins are in Mystic Falls, Nik,” He immediately turned to face her fully, giving her his full attention. “I was following the magic that those coffins exuded, pretty hard to miss, especially since I travelled with them for a couple days. Then suddenly, all the magic in Mystic Falls felt suddenly muted; and it’s _only_ in Mystic Falls. I checked. Someone’s hiding something on my radar. Someone powerful enough to dampen my senses of everything in this entire town. That someone has to have the coffins.”

“That _Bennett witch_.” Klaus was already storming off to where they had parked the car. Lis grabbed his elbow, making him pause and look back at her. 

“Wait no, Nik. Slow your roll. Bonnie’s powerful, yeah, but not this powerful. Definitely not powerful enough to block my senses. It’s not her, it doesn't _feel_ like her.”

Nik frowned, thinking for a bit, before smirking evilly. “Then we start back at basics love. Time to visit Stefan’s little human doppelganger.”

Lis sighed as she joined him in climbing into the car, staring out the window as Nik went on the phone again as he drove off, ordering surveillance on Elena.

I hope Stefan knows what he’s gotten into.

Annalise had a gnawing feeling that this _really_ wasn’t going to end well. 


	9. The New Deal Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda a filler chapter...Enjoy! :)
> 
> As always, no beta; sorry for any mistakes!
> 
> Update - Revised :)

They had shortly arrived at the quaint little BnB before Nik told her to pack up her things quickly. Annalise grumbled, but complied before meeting him back outside where he was already packed and leaning against the car – still on the phone. She silently threw her bags in the back and climbed into the passenger seat, leaning over to tap lightly on the driver’s door Nik was braced against. He glanced at her distractedly before climbing in and continuing to text. Well this isn’t going anywhere – might as well do something productive.

Lis leaned back in her seat and relaxed, focusing her mind, trying to get past the block that was inhibiting her senses – it felt odd being cut off from that constant comforting presence of magic she had grown used to always surrounding her. It was definitely still there, but it just felt muted, like she was trying to listen to something underwater. It was frustrating. No matter how hard she focused, she couldn’t pinpoint any signatures at all – not Bekah’s, not Nik’s; not even hers. Sighing in frustration, she opened her eyes again in response to the sound of Nik putting his phone away and turning the ignition on.

“Who were you texting? And where are we going?” Lis was patient, but she wanted to know what was going on, and what to do. She hated being in the dark, and feeling useless. Nik glanced at her distractedly smirking while seeing her frown, but turned back to the road as he answered. 

“I was texting Tyler and Tony. I need them both to keep an eye on the Gilberts, love.” He raised a brow at her. “And as for where we are going, you will get an answer to what you asked yesterday. You see, my hybrids have been busy for the better part of the last week here in Mystic Falls.”

Lis nodded, distracted by the information that Nik already had hybrids tailing the Gilberts. “Wait, Nik, what do you mean Gilberts, plural?”

“Elena has a convenient little brother, human. Both orphaned of course. Has a depressed alcoholic hunter as a father figure. All great pressure points.” His smile seemed far too gleeful - it was just a tad unsettling.

Lis absentmindedly chewed her cheek in thought, trying to thing through how she could shield Elena's poor family from the Original Hybrid's ire. Nik noticed. “I hope you don’t interfere with my plans this time love, you should know better than that now.”

She threw him back an annoyed glare. “And you should know that I’ll interfere if innocent kids are going to get hurt Nik. You can’t do anything to stop me. Just make sure it doesn’t come to it.” She saw him clench his jaw in anger, ready to probably yell at her again.

She spoke before he did, lowering her voice so as not to sound confrontational. She didn't want to fight. “Look, I’m going to help you get your family back Nik. I promise. Just -please. Don’t hurt people for no reason. I’ve got a plan." Annalise ran a hand through her hair, fiddling with the curls at the end. "There weren’t any witches in Mystic Falls apart from Bonnie, so whatever’s blocking me isn’t a person, it’s probably an item or a place imbued with a large amount of magic – most likely spiritual magic. There can’t be many of those here. Bonnie would know all of them. I was going to go find her after we’re done doing whatever it is that we’re doing.”

She saw him nod shallowly, but Lis wasn’t under any misguided notion that he was standing down from his initial plan. If anything, she probably gave him a couple new ideas on why he should hurt more people – especially Bonnie. Annalise took his silence as an agreement, however, and figured she would deal with whatever came, and try to make sure no one died.

Trying to out-manoeuvre Nik in strategy was a losing game, you didn’t need to be smart to figure that out. The silence was starting to get unbearable. She leaned over and poked his shoulder to move on from their disagreement. “So, what do you mean your hybrids have been busy in Mystic Falls for the last week? We were still on your road trip back then. Were you sending hybrids back here while making even more? What are they here for?”

He looked over and shrugged. His face displayed a proud grin as he took a sharp turn into one of the more posh-looking neighbourhoods of Mystic Falls. 

“When I left, it seemed like the doppelgänger was going to be permanent fixture here in Mystic Falls, so I figured I’ll become a permanent fixture as well. Especially seeing as my family and I don’t have to run any longer, without the threat of our father hanging over our heads. It seems poetic almost, doesn’t it? Settling down in the same town we once called home a thousand years ago.”

Lis let out an incredulous chuckle. “Wait, hold up. Nik, don’t tell me you were buying houses while we were hauling ass all over America.”

“Of course not love,” he smirked at her before turning into a circular driveway with a decorative pond in the middle and pristinely trimmed hedges, all decorating a large white brick mansion.

“I had it built.”

Annalise couldn’t take her wide eyes off the beautiful house as Nik parked the car and jumped out to meet the hybrids coming out to greet him. After a few minutes, she clumsily stumbled to the large door with all her bags and stepped slowly into the mansion with huge eyes. It was still under construction, that much was obvious from the extra wooden beams and the ladders dotting the foyer, but her eyes followed the sweeping majestic staircase that curved to an elegant bannister on the floor above - the high arched roof stretched upwards, and the foyer further opened up into a room the size of a ballroom – no doubt the comparison that Nik was trying to draw.

 _Holy Shit._ This place was beautiful.

She was snapped back to the present as she heard Nik’s voice carry through the house. Annalise head promptly in that direction to find him talking to Mindy, and a few other hybrids she wasn’t entirely familiar with. Her foot caught on a stray cable causing her to stumble and draw attention to herself.

Annalise tried to smile through her awkwardness at the pain in having five people simultaneously look at her strangely amused. She focused her cringing gaze at the one person she knew best in the small huddle. “Umm…Nik, where should I put my bags? Or should I have left them in the car? This was probably a mistake; I should’ve just left them in the car, sorry I just thought-”

Nik nodded to Mindy, she walked over with a smile and gestured at Annalise's bags. “Hey Lis, hand ‘em over.”

“Uh, hi. Thanks. How was the rest of the party last night?” Lis handed a few bags over to Mindy after a quick glance at Nik, who had gone back to talking with the other workers, before following Mindy up the grand stairs and into a beautiful room at the end of the corridor on the second landing.

“Oh, you know how it is, waking up this morning was hell. I was trying to make myself forget how it felt like to lose your free will to someone like Mikael, so I thought vodka was the answer.”

Lis helped deposit the bags in the room and looked around – it wasn’t small by any means, certainly bigger than the entire studio room she had in Uni. Annalise unsurely looked back at Mindy, who was distractedly staring out the large scenic window with a deep furrow on her face. “Is this supposed to be my room?”

Mindy's gaze snapped back to hers, she wore a worried look. “Is it too small? Klaus picked it out for you; thought you would enjoy the view, as well as be slightly separated from the other rooms for a bit more privacy. Klaus also said that you could pick another room if you prefer it.”

Annalise was quick to shake her head, still marvelling at what was now _her_ bedroom. “No, no. I love it, maybe a bit too much.” 

She looked at the wide dresser pushed to the wall on her right, opposite the queen bed made with light linens on the left. There were two doors to her left to the side of the bed, leading to a small but fully equipped en suite and a walk-in-wardrobe. To the other side of the bed – right opposite the entrance to the room, was a large wide floor to ceiling window, showing off a breathtaking view.

Her room appeared to be situated in the back-right corner of the house, facing a large back lawn decorated with a picturesque fountain, surrounded by neat Victorian hedges and trimmed trees. Closing the large lawn in, was a forest with towering trees; the separation between forest and lawn was lined with beautiful bushes filled with blue flowers. It seemed Mindy had the same thought as her.

“Those blue flowers near the back of the lawn, do you know what they are? They look pretty.”

Lis shrugged. “I don’t think I can tell from this distance, but hey, going back to what you were saying before I rudely interrupted you,” Mindy turned to look her way, “just so you know, vodka’s always the answer. In fact, I can’t believe I’m not drunk 24/7 these days with all the shit that’s gone down. But, uh…compulsion is a horrible thing. It isn’t pretty. I want you to know, you can talk to me about it, yeah? I wouldn’t mind having a gal pal around; Nik brings too much brooding and evil smirking into his conversations and I miss Bekah.”

Grinning, the new hybrid snorted at her as they made their way down the stairs. “You should put that on a mug – Vodka’s always the answer...what a motto. But Klaus, he really isn’t all that bad once you get to know him, y’know?”

Lis huffed in amusement and made eye contact with Nik, who appeared to be waiting for her near the large double main doors, before smirking back at Mindy. “Yeah? You really think so? Tell that to the poor carpenters who had to tile this colossal waste of space.”

Nik squinted at her in insult as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Ballrooms aren’t a waste space love.”

“Um…Nik, sweetie, in this day and age, they definitely are.”

“You have no class.” He huffed as he turned away, walking outside towards the car again, haughtily ignoring Mindy and Lis exchange quick grins and waves before Lis jogged after him and took her seat.

“So, where are we going now?”

-

Nik parked opposite the Mystic grill. While Lis climbed out, Nik had already walked on ahead to meet up with Tony, the strange quiet Hybrid she had met at Nik’s air-quoted “wake” for his father. She shrugged and crossed the road to enter the diner – Annalise had been briefed, for the lack of a better word, from Klaus on the drive up. The plan was they go in, _lightly_ threaten Elena - that was her contribution, then get out.

Lis didn’t see why she couldn’t eat some late brunch while doing it, though; she was hungry. Immediately making her way over to the bar, she ordered a veggie burger and a cappuccino while looking longingly at the vodka on the shelf. Her senses were already dulled with whatever was blocking her radar. Not being drunk would probably help in the long run...plus, she wasn't 21 yet – not that it had ever stopped her before though. Annalise couldn't help but pout. 

Trying to distract herself while waiting on her burger, she looked around at the crowded bar and immediately spotted Elena and Damon over in a corner towards the front of the dart board. They seemed to be close, très flirty.

Grimacing she turned away. Yikes, hadn't Stefan been out of the picture for like two weeks? No wonder he was so pissed and stolen the coffins. Well, Annalise internally shrugged her judgement away. It wasn't her business, and plus, she didn't know what was going on in their lives. After a few more minutes, she paid and thanked the waitress as she grabbed her burger and coffee. She turned to see Nik had waited for her, and had only started to approach the pair as she descended the stairs to the booth. She shot him a quick appreciative smile. 

Klaus leaned on a pillar behind the pair, smugly, then cleared his throat. “Don’t mind me.” That dramatic little shit.

Her smile widened as Damon and Elena sprang apart guiltily and whipped around to face him. Annalise's looked between Klaus and the pair that had become defensive and sighed. “And…um. Don’t mind me.”

She crossed between the two opposing parties ignoring their confused glances, Nik and Tony on one side, and Damon and Elena on the other; and sat down at the adjacent table facing them. Placing her coffee on the table, she took a big bite out of her burger still looking between everyone in a bored manner. Nik was probably used to her – he dismissed her strange behaviour first. She held Damon’s eye contact the longest as she chewed slowly, before he visibly came to the conclusion she was just weird, and turned back to Nik.

Lis shot an easy smile to Elena who returned it slightly. Damon stepped in front of Elena protectively and glanced around, smirking at Nik. “Gonna do this in the Grill? In front of everyone? It’s a little beneath you, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nik walked closer confidently. “I just came to my local pub to grab some drinks with my mates.”

He turned to the hybrid behind him who was staring at Damon and Elena with a creepy smile on his face. Annalise narrowed her eyes at him - he seemed like trouble. She should have known from last night. “Get a round then, would you Tony?” The hybrid nodded, then left. Lis squinted after him before adjusting her glasses and focusing back on Nik, who was grinning at a confused looking Elena. Ah, Tony must have tailed her this morning.

Damon spoke up warily. “Surprised you stuck around town long enough for happy hour.”

Lis raised her eyebrows and looked at Nik who glanced at her and nodded, thinking the same thing. They don’t know what Stefan did. Nik smirked unfazed - no doubt he already changed his plans to deal with this, he was quick on his feet. “My sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out.” His face didn’t look friendly anymore - Nik's eyes had hardened to stone. 

Damon though, either had no self-control or no fucks to give. “Cute, blonde bombshell? Psycho? Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

Annalise's eyes caught Elena looking particularly suspicious and shifty, no matter how good Damon's poker face was. She knows something about Rebekah’s disappearance. Nik stepped even closer and grabbed the darts from Damon’s hand, intimidation tactics coming into play. “Thing is, I’ve rather grown to like your little town. Thinking I might fancy a home here.”

Lis had finished her burger and threw the scrunched-up wrapper into the nearby bin before standing up, simultaneously sipping at her coffee as Klaus continued in a friendly manner. “Now I imagine you’re wondering; how does this affect you?” He stepped around the pair to face the dart board. “The answer is, not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want and everyone behaves, you can go on living your little lives however you choose.” He turned to look at a frightened Elena. “You have my word.”

“What more could you possibly want?” Elena sounded desperate for this to be over, and Annalise couldn't help but feel another flash of pity for the girl. She took another sip of coffee and Nik answered. 

“Well, for starters…” He stepped towards Elena with a dart held threateningly in his hand. “You can tell me where I might find Stefan.”

Lis noticed Damon shift forwards, so he was in front of Elena again. His own eyes held anger at his brother for his actions the night before. “Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass.”

“Well you see, that’s a shame,” Nik stepped back and spun around, releasing the dart. It embedded itself to the plastic hilt, deep in the wall; right in the middle of the bullseye. He then turned back to a confused looking Damon. “Your brother stole from me. I need him found, so I can take back what’s mine.”

“That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem.” That was a surprisingly cold answer from the wound girl - maybe Stefan _had_ really done something hateful. Either way, it seemed oddly wrong to see the same girl who had sobbed her heart out just last week to not care about his death. Annalise reminded herself that this wasn't her problem, nor her drama. 

Nik clearly wasn’t impressed either. He glowered at her as he stepped towards her, but chuckled when Damon predictably got between Nik and Elena again. “Well this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart.”

With that, Nik moved to stalk out of the grill casually, before Lis tapped his arm on the way past her.

“Hey, um, I was thinking I could spend the day with Elena. She might know some great witchy hotspots around here. I’m feeling drained these days.” Comprehension filled Nik’s eyes – he realised she could low-key figure out what was blocking her radar, and then try to find where the coffins were hidden. He kept his annoyed composure and waved a dismissive hand at her before zooming away. 

Simultaneously she felt both Damon and Elena’s eyes land on her.

“No way. Nuh-uh. You’re not having a play date with Klaus’s tiny Tinkerbell.” Lis exaggeratedly raised an arm to her chest and let out an insulted gasp. Short jokes. How original. 

Elena was quick to defend her. “Damon, I trust her, she wouldn’t hurt me. She’s helped me before.”

Their words were getting progressively heated, and Lis was feeling progressively awkward. “Hey um…I just have a few questions for Elena, and Nik was getting on my nerves. Plus, the sooner I find Stefan and what he’s taken, the sooner I can try save him. Nik’s out for blood and I’m afraid he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process. I promise I’ll keep her safe – Nik needs her anyway. If you can’t trust me, at least trust that.”

Elena gestured to what Lis said and smiled at her softly before turning to Damon, her mind clearly made. Damon saw that too because all he did was throw his hands in the air and walk away muttering something about the obvious lack of self-preservation and having better alcohol at home. The two girls grinned slightly at each other before Elena grabbed a satchel nearby and made her way over to a man at a bar marking papers. Lis made it to the pair, just as Elena said something to him, and both turned to face her. She held her hand out with an awkward smile.

“Annalise Caelis. Call me Lissie.”

The man – very tall and very handsome, towered over her as he shook her hand quickly – clearly wary. “Uh, yes, Alaric Saltzman. Elena told me you helped her before, thank you.”

Magic brushed against her palm released it. Huh, magic ring. Neat. Annalise wondered why a hunter would need one, assuming of course that this was Elena's alcoholic hunter turned father-figure.Lis filed that thought away for later and flashed him a tight smile. “Yeah, I’m pretty morally grey, but even I draw the line at terrorising kids.”

Alaric looked confused. “Kids? _You_ look like a kid.” 

Lis let out a good-natured chuckle. “Are you insulting my height? 'Cos that’s an easy way to get on my bad side.” Alaric’s eyes widened and he moved to apologise. Lis sipped her warm coffee again and waved an arm at him, dismissing his oncoming apology. “Hey, it’s okay, I’m kidding. I get that a lot. I turned 20 this year."

Alaric smiled unsurely and nodded, turning back to gather his papers from the bar. She watched both of them exchange glances – Alaric’s was still insanely wary. Elena shrugged though, her mind was clearly made up, and turned to Lis. “Um, we were heading home now, we need to make lunch. Are you coming with us?”

Lis grinned, nodding. “Uh, yeah if you don’t mind. But um…a bit of warning before you make any other decisions, you know how I can teleport, yeah?” Elena nodded as Alaric raised his eyebrows in surprise. Lis steamed on ahead. “Yeah, I just want to let you know, in the interest of honesty – once I’ve been to a place I’ve never been to before, I can teleport there at will. The question here is, do you still feel safe taking me to your home?”

Alaric immediately whipped his head around to Elena giving her a warning glare, but Elena looked confused. “But you’d never been to the school before, how did you teleport to me that night?”

“Ah, you caught on. Smart.” Lis tipped her cup at her. “That night I teleported to you specifically, not a place. It applied different magic theory.” Alaric looked confused now, but Elena was nodding along.

”So that means that if I was home, you could teleport there anyway. You could teleport to wherever I am?” 

Lis winced as she replied. “Well, yeah. Sure. But I only know where you are if I specifically look for you. I feel like it’s a pretty big invasion of privacy so like, I only try to do it in emergencies.”

Elena nodded like she made a decision and started walking to the exit. Lis exchanged glances with a wary Alaric before the both of them followed her to a parked car. Lis climbed in to the back seat.

Alaric climbed in the driver’s seat and paused looking at Elena, as if he wanted to make sure she knew that she was inviting one of their potential enemies to her house. Elena looked fed-up with the uneasy glances. “What Alaric? Like she said. She can find me wherever I am. It doesn’t matter if she knows where my house is or not. Plus, I kinda trust her.” Lis grinned at her from the back. “And maybe she can use her powers to find Jeremy.”

The car was moving now, Lis watched the small-town streets pass by slowly before turning back to question Elena. “Who’s Jeremy? Is he supernatural too?”

“No, he isn’t. He’s just my little brother. Can you find him?”

Lis looked at Elena with an apology in her eyes as she sipped her coffee. “Sorry Elena, I can only feel supernatural things on my pseudo-magic-radar. You’re on it just barely because you’re a doppelganger.”

Elena sighed and turned to the front again, clearly worried about her brother. If Elena recognised Tony stalking her from earlier, that must mean Tyler’s with Jeremy then. Annalise wasn't too worried, Tyler wouldn't hurt one of his friend's brothers, right?

On the short drive to Elena’s house, Lis asked her if there were any items or places with a great deal of magic around here she knew about. Elena clearly did know but replied negatively. It was obvious she didn’t trust her completely, so Lis didn’t try to push it any further. The car pulled up at a cute two-story suburban house surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges and a wrap around porch. 

With one last hesitant glance at Lis, Alaric went ahead into the house. Elena flashed her an uncomfortable grin and a shrug, to which Lis responded in kind, before both made their way into the house. Annalise went to reach out to the magic around her for comfort, but paused as it greeted he in a muted manner. The quicker she gets this done, the quicker everything would be back to normal, or as close to normal as it gets.

Alaric and Elena had busily set about making lunch after denying her many instances that she could help, so Annalise had sat to the side, talking to them. Alaric was apparently a high school history teacher, still greatly sour about Klaus using him as a meat suit when he had initially arrived in Mystic Falls. However, he did warm up to her once she'd mentioned a collection of antique magical hunters weapons back at her college, then laughed at his attempts to get her to enchant his own weapons. After finishing off her coffee and binning her cup, she sent a text to Nik saying Elena hadn’t given up any information on magic hotspots no matter how many times she'd subtly tried to steer the conversation in that direction - in fact; she seemed quite cagey about hotspots as a whole.

Annalise didn't want to push too hard and raise suspicions though. 

Once the food was mostly ready, and the smell of stir-fry and casserole filled the kitchen, Lis was placed on table-setting duty while Elena and Alaric flitted about the kitchen finishing up the plating. They seemed to move around each other with familiarity, it made Lis smile softly.

The conversation had been about Jeremy, apparently a young trouble-maker who was flunking classes at school, and had been fired from his job at the grill a couple days ago. Annalise had denied knowing any spells that would make him a better student with a snort, saying "I'd have used it on myself a long time ago."

Alaric looked at Elena as she carried a dish laden with casserole to the table that Lis had set. “So, you ready?”

“Vampires, hybrids, witches and originals. No problem. My rebellious brother: I’m worried.” Elena sighed.

Lis and Alaric both snorted; she looked over at him chopping vegetables on the island facing them, they exchanged a surprised grin. Alaric glanced back at Elena. “Proof that you’re still human.”

“You definitely have your priorities in order.” Annalise winked as Elena passed her to put a stack of plates on the table.

Before Elena went to reply, they all heard the front door open, and a tall boy she presumed was Jeremy, walked loudly in. Annalise vaguely realised his soul felt heavy. He must have had a brush with death in his young life, but her dampened powers weren't able to reveal anymore. Jeremy's gaze immediately zeroed in on her as he walked past her to the fridge, looking at her oddly. “Who are you?” 

Annalise gave him an easy grin. “Uh, Lissie. Nik’s quasi-witch supreme. Nice to meet you.”

Jeremy grew rigid, eyes darting between a shrugging Elena, and Alaric rolling his eyes, before his posture relaxed infinitesimally and opened the fridge to look into it.

Elena chose this moment to speak up. “Just in time! We cooked.”

“Sorry, just passing through.” Jeremy's voice carried from where he'd stuck his head in the fridge, looking for something. 

Alaric was quick to come up with an excuse as he saw Elena's face fall at the casual dismissal after all their hard work. “Ah, well I thought we could all stay in, have a meal together like a typical, atypical family.”

“Why?” Jeremy grabbed a chilled drink and shut the fridge door, walking back towards Elena.

“Maybe because you got fired and you didn’t tell anyone?” Elena certainly didn’t mince her words, she was showing she was annoyed now. Jeremy hadn't taken her chance to own up. As Jeremy paused sheepishly, Lis was feeling increasingly uncomfortable again. She didn't want to be here watching a family chew out a rebellious teen anymore than she wanted to throw her arm into a garbage disposal unit. 

“Ugh, look. Can we do this later? I made plans with Tyler. He’s right outside.”

That immediately made Alaric tense up, alarmed. “Wait, when did you start hanging out with Tyler Lockwood?” 

“I don’t know, does it matter?” Typical teen response. Lis finished setting the table and stepped lightly back, wondering when a good time would be to interject and say she’s leaving.

“Yeah Jeremy, it matters! He was sired by Klaus. He’s dangerous.” Elena whispered.

“Look, he can still hear you. He’s right outside. And she literally works for him voluntarily – how’s that any better?!” Jeremy gestured at Lis standing awkwardly in the corner wishing she could be a part of the wall. Everyone looked at her. She shrugged innocently. 

"I make bad life decisions, okay?"

Still annoyed, Jeremy looked towards Elena again. “Besides are you of all people are gonna lecture me on who I can and can’t hang out with? When you hang out with _Damon?_ ” 

Elena crossed her arms in insult while taking her eyes off Lis and glaring at her little brother. “What’s with the attitude?”

“Yeah whatever, this is lame. Tyler’s waiting.” And there’s typical teen response number two. Jeremy moved back towards the front door before Elena angrily intercepted him, pushing him back with a hand on his chest.

“Oh no, no, no. You’re not going anywhere, especially not with Tyler.”

Jeremy glanced back at Alaric looking for some support, only to be met with a firm refusal. “I’m with her on this Jer. Sorry.”

Jeremy scowled again. “All right, fine. You want me to stay in? Let’s _all_ stay in then.” He was clearly worked up as turned to the front door, shouting, “Yo Tyler! Come on in!”

Well _that_ just made looking after the Gilbert family that much harder - turns out, Annalise wasn't the only one with a tendency to do stupid things.

Her smile flicked upwards involuntarily at the thought.

Mystic Falls was starting to grow on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a very dialogue heavy chapter, I was just trying out a new style. :)


	10. The New Deal Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya!  
> As I've said before, comments keep me going!! I'll always try to update early if I've got time after I read a lovely comment lol. It's one of my fatal flaws...soooo here's an early update!!  
> It's a bit on the shorter side - but hope you enjoy!!  
> As always, beta-free!
> 
> Update - Revised!

Elena’s protests came too late as Tyler walked in to the Gilbert house with clear discomfort, having heard the entire argument outside. Lis waved at a confused Tyler, to which he passed back an unsure smile, eyes darting between the members of the Gilbert family all looking at him in some degree of wariness. At least she wasn’t the only outsider in this little domestic anymore. “Hey kid.”

“Oh, hey. What are you doing here?” Tyler looked looked at her strangely as he shifted on the balls of his feet, looking distinctly nervous in the cute suburban living room, while avoiding the suspicious glares directed at him by Elena and Alaric. It was oddly entertaining. 

Annalise grinned lightly. “I’m was just here for a little meet and greet, and maybe a little information on any magical hot spots in town. I need to recharge.”

Tyler clearly looked like he didn’t know how to respond to that, so he nodded uncertainly and looked towards Jeremy again, who gestured him to sit at the table. He then filled a glass of water from the tap and set it down in front of Tyler, now even more awkward seeing as he was the only one sitting down. Elena stood directly opposite Tyler with her arms crossed; still glaring. Lis leaned on the wall to the side, torn between watching this unfold, or getting the hell out of this tension-filled situation. In the end her decision was really reached looking at the teen who looked as if he were about to be interrogated. She didn't want to abandon Tyler to the wolves, so to speak, but she also wanted to make sure he doesn't reveal anything too detrimental to Nik's plans.

Annalise watched on, low-key entertained, as Elena frowned at Tyler in suspicion. “This is weird. Klaus has hybrids stalking me and now you’re just sitting in our kitchen.” Lis had to hand it to Elena – she was pretty smart to put two and two together.

Tyler's stiff shoulders hunched as he fiddled with the glass of water placed on the table in front of him. “Look, maybe I should go.”

Lis jumped in. “Hey, I’ll come with you! I don’t have a ride.”

Alaric was quick to shut them down. "No, stay. Both of you. You’re not doing anything, and we can keep an eye on you.”

Elena narrowed her eyes. “Unless you have to, y’know, check in with your hybrid master.” It was like bad cop, annoyed cop here. Much better than Prime Time TV. 

Tyler laughed uneasily, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. “It’s not like that Elena.”

Jeremy and Alaric moved to sit down on either side of Tyler, Alaric albeit a lot more threateningly, whilst casually holding a glass of red wine. Classy. He spoke, levelling the hybrid with a dark stare. “Tell me Tyler, what’s the difference between being sired and compelled?”

Alaric's voice was light, almost as if he was asking the hybrid how the weather was today. Annalise was really starting to admire him. He seems like _such_ a cool guy. 

Tyler nodded slowly, obviously thrown at this direct question, and took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Compulsion- that’s just mind control, like hypnosis. And being sired is…it’s like faith. You do something because you believe it’s the right thing.”

Elena was quick to interject. “So you believe that serving Klaus is the right thing?”

Tyler was immediately shaking his head in disagreement. “I don’t _serve_ him. Klaus released me from a curse that was ruining my life. I owe him for that.” Lis moved closer to the table and sat next to where Elena was standing. She was interested...sue her. 

“What if he asked you to jump off a bridge?” Alaric came at him with a classic parent comment. Annalise rolled her eyes, grinning. 

“He wouldn’t! And even if he did I’d be fine. I’m a hybrid.” Tyler looked proud of his answer.

Elena interrupted again. “Okay, so what if he asked you to rip your own heart out?”

“Again, he wouldn’t.” Tyler clenched his teeth. He was clearly getting agitated. Well, that isn't great. This was going downhill relatively fast. It certainly didn't make it better that Elena was still grilling him.

“What if he did?”

“I don’t know, then I’d rip out my heart!” 

Everyone paused in shock and leaned back. Lis raised her eyebrows in surprise. That’s some loyalty. Even Tyler looked surprised at his exclamation before his face shuttered back to show his anger at being interrogated. He threw his hands up in the air, annoyed, “You guys sound like Caroline, getting all freaked out over something you don’t understand.”

“You’re right Tyler, I _don’t_ understand. Klaus has terrorized every single one of us and you’re just blindly loyal to him.” Elena sounded seriously annoyed. Lis leaned her head on her hand braced on the table and closed her eyes tiredly. Yup. She wondered how long it'd take for her name to be brought up in conversation.

“You’re over-thinking it. I can still make my own decisions. Plus, why aren’t you questioning _her_ any further?” Tyler gestured at her and Lis squinted at him in betrayal. There it was. 

"I wouldn't say I'm _blindly_ loyal, is annoyed-ly loyal a thing?" Annalise defensively crossed her arms, making Tyler grin. 

Strangely, Elena came to her rescue. “Lissie saved my life, she only works for Klaus to help more people. She’s been honest the entire time.”

Lis grinned up at Elena. “Aww you cutie, you shouldn’t have-”

Jeremy’s phone rang, interrupting her halfway. He stepped away from the table to take it, but Lis's eyes followed him. Something felt off...she narrowed her eyes at the young boy and voiced her concerns. “Guys, something feels wrong.” The sharp and serious inflection to her words was so different to the joking tone she'd used before, everyone straightened, following her eye line to look at Jeremy warily as he walked back to the table and sat down.

He noticed everyone staring at him and crossed his arms defensively. “What?”

Tyler was clearly at the end of his line - he also looked flat out suspicious now, shifty. He glanced down at his watch and stood. “Look guys, I gotta go. Um thanks for the food offer, but uh…” Alaric bit into a biscuit and glared at Tyler. “Til next time.” Tyler nodded, and made a hasty exit.

Lis stood up quickly too. “Yeah you know what? I’m going to grab a ride with Tyler, and leave you guys to your atypical family meal.” She shot finger guns at Alaric and Jeremy. “Nice to meet you guys, it's been a pleasure. Just uh, I had a bad feeling before. Do yourselves a favour and keep an eye out, yeah?”

She took Elena’s tired grin and nod as a confirmation, and exchanged a nod with Alaric and Jeremy before leaving the house.

Annalise paused in the empty driveway, sighing with her hands on her hips. Dammit, Tyler's car was long gone - he must've really been itching to get away. She could teleport straight to the mansion, but it was quite a nice afternoon. Plus, Annalise wanted to explore, take the long way round and see if she could stumble on any magic hotspots in the area. Unlikely, but you never really know. 

As Lis walked slowly down the road with her hands in her cardigan, she looked at the cute suburban homes with literal white picket fences and even saw some lawns with abandoned children's toys out in the yard. So frickin' domestic.

Sudden yelling behind her had her turning slightly - that sounded like Elena. She saw Jeremy in the distance crossing the road, only to stop halfway and stand in the middle.

Curiously, Annalise started jogging back to him as Elena and Alaric exit the house, screaming at him to move. Only Jeremy didn't. Lis sped up, running up to everyone. “Hey, what’s going on? What’s wrong with him? Elena?”

Tires squealed loudly as a black SUV rounded the corner far too fast and headed straight for the young boy, still standing unresponsively in the middle of the road.

She heard Elena and her guardian call out in panic and run towards Jeremy. Lis lifted an arm and aimed it at the teen, it took her a second longer to magically grab on to Jeremy because of her dampened powers, but she managed to _pull_ him to her side just in time to see Alaric get hit hard instead – he had run out onto the road trying to push Jeremy out of the way and she had missed him. _Shit._

Everyone watched, horrified, as Alaric’s body ricocheted off the cracked windshield and roll violently multiple times across the road, before coming to a stop face down.

Lis unfroze and started forwards at the same time as Elena with Jeremy at her heels. She made it just as the black SUV pull up slowly with a window rolled down. _Tony?_

He grinned at them easily as if he hadn’t just run someone over in cold blood. “There I go again, bumping into people.”

Fury filled Lis as she felt her magic lash out and hit the side of the car, the force pushing the SUV skidding back sideways, making it lurch on two wheels before falling back down to all four. The metal doors were caved in from the impact of her magic. She felt Elena and Jeremy flinch backwards in shock.

Tony stepped out of the car annoyed, struggling with the broken door. “What the hell? What are you-”

He choked on his words as Annalise raised an arm in the air, clenching it. “Tony. Did Nik just try to have _a kid_ killed?”

Tony struggled in her invisible grip “I- don’t- he-“

Lis clenched her hand tighter, imagining it tightening around his heart. “I don’t like hurting people Tony so just answer the _damn_ question. Did Klaus try to have Jeremy killed? Yes, or no?”

Tony had shut his eyes in pain, but he answered, “Yes! Yes, okay, he told me to.”

She relaxed her hand and watched coldly as he collapsed to the floor breathing heavily while clutching at his chest. He glared at her in rage before he ran off in a blur. No doubt off to complain about her. She didn't care one bit. 

Lis turned back to Elena and Jeremy crouching on the floor beside Alaric’s body, looking at her in shock and no small amount of of fear. She flashed them a tight smile.

“Sorry, uh…about your friend. He was a good man. I could tell. He didn’t deserve death. I swear I didn’t know Klaus was planning this.”

She noticed Elena nod at her before scrabbling to grip at Alaric’s hand, then sighing in relief. The young girl looked at a still panicked-looking Jeremy, and held his shoulder in reassurance. “He’s gonna be all right. Are you ok?”

“Wait, what am I missing?” Lis ignored Jeremy nodding distractedly at Elena's consolation, and crouched down next to the kids beside Alaric's dead body. “No offence, but this guy was just hit with a force big enough to boot him straight into the next life, what the hell do you mean he’s all right? He's so dead I can't even begin to heal him.”

Elena glanced at her before apparently choosing to trust her further. “It’s the family ring. It works on non-supernaturals, it brings them back to life if they died a supernatural death. Jeremy has one too, but he was just compelled to take his off.”

“What the ever-loving _fuck,_ the implications of that magic theory applied to those rings is _ground-breaking_ -”

Elena ignored her melt down and started speaking rapidly to Jeremy. “We’ve gotta get him inside. Help me.”

“Wait. Just hold on. Lemme calm down.” Lis halted everyone’s movement, taking a deep breath and forcefully pushing the miraculous rings out of her mind for now. “Okay, here’s what I’m gonna do. We need to get out of the public street fast. Both of you, grab my arms, _now_.” The two teens didn't hesitate one bit and immediately held on to her, and she shut her eyes and visualised herself in the Gilbert home, in front of the sofa.

According to the kids’ gasp of amazement it worked.

She tapped Alaric’s dead body on the carpet once more, and teleported it conveniently to the sofa before turning to a wide-eyed Elena and Jeremy.

Annalise rubbed her forehead stressfully. “So, you’re telling me, the magic in that ring is keeping him alive, and is healing him right now?” They nodded fast. She didn't miss Jeremy walking over to the dining table and picking up his own ring and sliding it back on his finger.

“Right, okay, maybe I can speed up the process. I’m not comfortable in leaving you two alone with a temporarily dead guardian. He’s been dead long enough. It can’t be good for him.”

Annalise approached Alaric and placed a hand on his chest to look for any lingering signs of life…there! It was strange – almost as if his soul was far away, but still tethered to his body – it was definitely faint, but getting slowly stronger. This ring could save so many people. Annalise was still blown away by the implications of a ring that could _reverse_ death-

Breaking herself out of her internal freakout, she moved her hand to his forehead and muttered, “ _Surgo”,_ frowning when he didn’t proceed to immediately wake up. Hm…odd. It almost feels like something’s holding him in this dead state. It felt unnatural, other-worldly. The best guess she had was that was the ring’s specific revival magic. 

Shrugging she turned to look at Elena and Jeremy watching impatiently for their guardian to wake up. “Um…it doesn’t seem like I can wake him up. Looks like I have to let it do its thing. Wait, maybe I can try heal his wounds anyway?”

Annalise reached out to tap his forehead, whispering a semi-powerful, “ _Sana”_ spell, and frowned when she noticed his wounds didn’t recede at all. She turned back around to the worried kids. “Looks like I can’t do anything further to help while he’s in this state, I’m sorry. I think the ring isn’t letting me try anything externally.”

Elena nodded then rushed forwards to crush her in a quick hug, stepping back sheepishly. “Thank you…for Jeremy, and everything.”

Lis stepped back and wrung her hands awkwardly. “No worries, you’re good.” She noticed a stray pen and paper on a table close by... _fuck it -_ and scribbled down her number before handing it to Elena.

“There’s my number if you need my help, but please remember, as angry as I am at Nik right now, this isn’t me declaring I’m on your side, and helping you indefinitely. I won’t help in your vendetta against him.”

“But he just tried to have Jeremy killed! And he killed Alaric." Elena was shaking her head, clutching desperately at the hand she had used to pass the girl her phone number. "Please, Lissie, you’re clearly powerful enough to take him on. We saw what you did to that hybrid. Please.” 

Jeremy’s eyes narrowed in thought as watched silently as Lis shook her head, stepping closer to the trio. 

“Look, as horrible as he is, he’s angry, he’s acting out. But I still work for him. I gave him my word, and that’s not something I take lightly. You have to realise that you _won’t_ be able to rely on me Elena. The sooner you understand that I won’t always be able to help, the better off you’ll be.”

Resignation entered Elena’s eyes as she nodded shallowly, limply taking her hands off Lis's arm. Annalise shut her eyes and sighed wearily, sending a nod to Jeremy then blinking out of existence.

She appeared in front of the mansion and tiredly made her way into it, asking around if Nik was here. Following everyone’s direction, she found Tyler with his tense back facing her, talking to the Original.

The room was still under construction. There were large beams, swathes of unpainted walls, and cables running on the ground with ladders dotting the room. As Annalise walked closer she heard Tyler say, “I didn’t think we’d actually kill anyone.”

Lis glared at Nik, speaking up and drawing both their attention to her. “Yeah me neither. What the _actual_ fuck Nik?”

She strode forward angrily, coming to a stop beside Tyler. Nik held his hands up in a placating gesture. His voice was gentle, appeasing. “Tyler, Lissie, what you’re feeling is the remnant of a guilty conscience, I need you both to get over it okay?”

Annalise scoffed angrily. “Fuck no, you _dick._ I _kicked_ Tony’s ass, and right now, you’re talking yourself into being next.”

Nik ignored her, putting a strong hand on Tyler’s shoulder and turning him around to walk him back in the direction she came in from. He continued his little speech as if Lis had never interrupted. “End of the day, human life is just means to an end. Our means to our end. You’d do well to remember that.”

“Said every fairy tale villain ever.” Lis bit out as she walked close behind them. “Sure, why _don’t_ you try to kill the brother and father figure of the _one_ person you _literally_ need to live out your fantasy of having a hybrid army, it’ll _definitely_ earn you brownie points.”

“You better not have irreparably damaged my hybrid Lissie.”

"And what if I did, huh? You just tried have a _kid_ killed." Klaus' glare faltered when her voice wobbled near the end, but he still turned wordlessly and walked away, leaving both of them alone.

Lis watched as Tyler frowned at the floor, deep in thought. She sighed. 

“You finally wondering why you can’t find anything wrong with what that he just said? Is it strange having to take Nik’s word for something and not have to explain it away?” She was genuinely curious, yet by the way Tyler stiffened and clenched his fists, he was insulted.

He threw her a glare. “What’s your excuse?”

"Hey, shit, sorry." Annalise put a hand on his shoulder. She looked at him sincerely, and he relaxed a small amount. “I didn't mean it like that. I just- Jeremy’s fine. Alaric is a bit less so, but I was told he’ll be fine too. Apparently they've got magic rings.”

Tyler nodded, giving her a halfhearted grin as she patted him on his back, then walked away, looking like he carried the world on his shoulders. It felt gloomy, watching yet another kid Klaus messed up, walk away deep in existential thought.

This was all so messed up. 

-

Annalise was sulking on the grand staircase watching the sun set through the tall windows, wondering how long she’d have to try to justify Nik’s actions to herself before coming to the conclusion that he was just a grade-A tool. His fear for Mikael made it easier to excuse most his actions, so did his need to find his family - but hurting kids was uncalled for. If she had to guess, it had been Tyler's job to make sure Jeremy was vervain-free so he could be compelled to stand in the middle of the road using the phone call, but why go to the extra trouble of also taking the Gilbert ring off and making his choice a permanent one, when the alternative - Jeremy dying with the ring on - would have sent them the same message? She startled out of her thoughts when her phone started buzzing.

It was an unknown number, and there’s only one person she gave her number to.

She answered the call, knowing if Nik was anywhere in the house, he’d come find her after listening in. She just hoped Elena was smart enough to know that as well. “Elena. When I gave you my number this afternoon for emergencies, I wasn’t expecting a call on the same evening. What can I do for you?”

Ignoring how Nik suddenly and predictably appeared next to her, she realised that Elena was sniffling. “Elena? What’s wrong sweetheart?”

“Alaric’s in the hospital." Lis's heart crumbled at the despair in the girl's voice. "He was internally bleeding, and the ring didn’t fix him up. Then that hybrid you hurt,”

“Tony? If that little dipshit tried anything else-”

Elena was quick to correct her, still sniffling. “No, no. Jeremy killed him Lissie. He’s dead.” Lis stood up in shock, glancing at a solemn Nik, before making her way down the stairs.

“Right, okay, Elena. So, what do you need me for?”

“Is Klaus close by?”

She glanced at Nik, literally half a step behind her. “Uh, yeah, you could say that.”

“Could you hand your phone over to him?”

Surprised, she voiced her agreement as she did as Elena told. She didn’t hear anything of what Elena said on the other end, and Nik only ended the call after saying a few words. He handed her phone back to her, still looking away in thought.

“What was that about Nik?” It felt like she was talking to a brick wall as he was already making his way down into his car, ignoring her question. Instead he called over his shoulder in what felt like an after thought. “Stay here. I’ll be back soon.” 

Lis sighed and visibly gave up, climbing back up the stairs to the room Mindy had helped deposit her things in. It was all finished; one of the only rooms in the house that was from the looks of it - even the bed was made. Annalise washed up and fell into bed, the use of her magic today made her feel tired, but less than before. She was getting better at controlling it. Slowly.

Taking her phone out, she sent Elena a quick text wishing Alaric a fast recovery. The phone beeped with Elena’s reply saying he was already at home, and fine. She turned on her side and looked out the large window.

The sky was clear, and the stars twinkled. She hoped tomorrow would be better, but had a creeping feeling of foreboding. 

She knew the worst was yet to come.


	11. Our Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, there's a graphic representation of canon-typical violence in this chapter, so be warned!  
> This chapter was pretty fun to write,  
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Update - revised!

Mindy had convinced Annalise to wake up early and start the day with a healthy jog.

Now, Lis wasn’t a person who enjoyed a jog by any means, but she was already up and quite hungry for food. As there was no breakfast in the mansion currently suitable for human consumption, she really had no option.

Technically, Lis _could_ teleport into town, but she had only ever seen the front and inside of the Mystic Grill; there was no way was she going to risk suddenly appearing in the middle of a bunch of locals. That meant she needed to scope out and get familiar with some places she could teleport to in town in an emergency – places which were hidden from view. She mentally added that on her list of things to do today. After sending a quick text to Nik saying that she’ll be going for a quick jog with Mindy into town, they set off. It was strangely relaxing, jogging with the hybrid – strange because she hadn’t ever found physical exercise remotely enjoyable before. But it more than anything, she appreciated the sense of normalcy it brought her. Normal people went jogging with their friends, right?

The path they used was well worn, cutting through a little of the forest so it sat between tall trees with the path decorated in mossy rocks and smatterings of wildflowers. The magic around her felt present, and strong, despite still feeling out of reach - and Annalise revelled in it, and the company.

Mindy was an amazing conversationalist, they never had an awkward pause, not even while they were eating breakfast. They talked about anything and everything - their favourite tv shows, how horrible flare jeans looked, and even their favourite music. This made Lis miss Rebekah – she hadn’t known the girl for long at all, but the outspoken blonde had already made an impression on her. 

They were giggling uncontrollably as they clambered back into the mansion.

“I can’t believe you were wearing _thongs-”_

“I meant _flip flops_ okay?!? I swear that’s what we call them over in Australia. _For the hundredth time, I didn’t throw on some racy underwear just to say hi to the post man!”_

Mindy was snorting. “Don’t worry, I bet the postman _loved_ it.”

“No!” Lis had started whacking Mindy on the arm in embarrassment as they entered the house. “No, no stop it. My stomach hurts from laughing too hard I can’t-” Mindy had doubled over; she could barely get her words out. “You-you’ve gotta show me your _thongs_ some time.” She let out another bark of laughter folding in on herself.

Annalise heard familiar footsteps approach the foyer and both girls did their best to straighten up and wipe the grins off their faces. Nik rounded the corner with a smirk, green eyes bright with amusement. “Ladies, ladies. What’s this indecent conversation we’re hearing first thing in the morning?” The girls exchanged a quick glance before dissolving into quiet giggles again.

Nik looked very entertained, classily nursing a glass of blood as he called out to Mindy. “As lovely as this is, Mindy, I need you to do something for me, it’s in the other room, make sure you put it somewhere safe, please.”

Mindy nodded and left, still chuckling. Lis went to follow her, but Nik stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She grinned up at him easily, still in a good mood. “Yeah, Nik?”

His eyes were unusually serious. “What would you do if you found Rebekah daggered, Lissie?”

Annalise moved his hand off her shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly in both of hers before letting it go. “I’d wake her up, silly. And bring your sister straight back to you. I miss her, if I’m being honest. It’d be nice having her around again. Maybe she could even help keeping your homicidal tendencies in check. Why’d you ask?” She tilted her head inquisitively. 

Nik nodded to himself as if he was right about something; she watched closely as his eyes softened, and he stepped back. “No reason,” He started walking in the opposite direction, so Lis just rolled her eyes and followed behind. “By the way, did you see Alphonse this morning?”

Lis nodded distractedly, looking around the house still undergoing construction. It was progressing insanely fast. “Yeah, um…Mindy was talking to Alphonse before we left, I think. There was a bunch of hybrids talking here this morning. I heard you tasked them with wandering around Mystic Falls looking for the coffins, Alphonse was with them. Why?”

“Everyone’s made it back, except him. Do you happen to know where he was looking? Maybe his search turned up fruitful after all.” Nik took a sip out of his glass.

“I don’t know Nik, sorry. I reckon asking Mindy would be the best bet.” Annalise's gaze studied his easy nod closely as she hesitantly voiced something Mindy had said this morning. "Hey, uh...on our run, Mindy mentioned Tony went rogue. That you didn't want Jeremy killed, only a message sent, but he uh...improvised." Nik's gaze surreptitiously ignored hers as she tried to catch up to his side to meet it. "I wanted to apologise, it was just that Tony said you did when I threatened him, probably out of fear and-"

Annalise cut herself off when she realised she was rambling and just took a deep breath. "Just, don't always paint yourself as a bad guy, and correct me if I'm wrong, yeah?" Nik finally met her eyes with a quick nod, but both paused feeling something shift in the air behind them. They instinctively stilled and turned - Klaus appeared relaxed, and Lis defensive. Stefan was leaning against a glass dividing door opposite them that they'd just passed.

Nik took the initiative to speak up first, casually approaching the very man he was currently mad at. “I’m surprised you’re still in town. I gave you your freedom, you could’ve gone anywhere.” Lis hung back, observing - Stefan was acting a bit _too_ confident - and that made him dangerous.

Stefan’s reply was just as casual. “I live here Klaus.”

“Well, if we’re playing this game, then uh…I was here first.”

Lis rolled her eyes, relaxing her tense shoulders slightly at Nik's treatment of Stefan as if he were harmless. There was no way he didn't think Stefan wasn't currently dangerous; so that meant he was treating him casually to lull him into a false sense of security. Annalise figured she should follow his lead. She leaned against the doorway opposite to Stefan, mirroring him, and watched Nik reach a table closer to the middle of the room, pushed to the side, to grab a classy wine bottle filled with blood before pouring himself another helping.

Stefan pushed off the door and walked closer to Klaus threateningly. "You know, I don’t like your hybrid friends. They’re everywhere, kinda like fleas. I want them gone.”

“Yeah well uh...I kinda like having them around.” Nik’s laid-back reply clearly annoyed Stefan. “You know, I’m hurt. I hoped that I’d free you, and we’d pick up where we left off. But here you are, guzzling vervain like the rest of them, I’m sure.” Nik set the bottle down and raised his glass in mock-toast. “So much for friendship.”

“Friends don’t strip friends of their free will.”

Lis moved forwards from her door, closer to Nik’s side, shooting him a quick grin. “Uh…Respectfully Nik, I think Stefan has a point there.”

Nik shrugged in agreement. “Okay, granted, yeah, that was a little extreme. I get a little moody. Just ask my siblings." His expression took a more serious turn. "Speaking of whom, isn’t it time you handed them over?” All traces of good humour disappeared from his face.

Moody was the right word for it, or maybe bipolar.

Stefan just stepped even closer in faux comradery, “Klaus, get your hybrids out of Mystic Falls, or I will remove them _myself_.”

Nik squinted at Stefan like he was stupid. “Hmm…you see, if you continue to threaten me, I’ll be forced to retaliate. Kill people. And it’ll get messy again.”

Stefan shrugged easily. “Do whatever you want. I don’t really care, or you know what? Maybe I do. Yeah, yeah." He nodded to himself, looking slightly unhinged. "Maybe I’ll care so much that I drop Elijah in the Arctic.” _Yikes._

Lis noticed Nik’s hands grip his glass infinitesimally tighter, contradicting his blasé tone. “Well, maybe I’d be willing to lose one brother, if it meant killing yours.”

Stefan smirked widely, _too_ wide. “Try me. Let’s find out.’

Nik chuckled in disbelief as Mindy walked up behind Stefan, opposite them. She was smiling at her. "Hey, Lis, I put something up in your room for you-" Annalise widened her eyes at her in warning, and Mindy noticed immediately, pausing and narrowing her eyes at Stefan. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine Mindy. Stefan here was just leaving after failing to make his point.”

Stefan smiled at Nik in good humour before suddenly blurring away faster than the eye could see. Next thing Lis knew, something warm splattered down her side and she was looking at Mindy’s head on the floor, her expression frozen in shock.

Annalise felt hollow as she heard Mindy’s body fall to the ground separately with a low thud. Before she realised it, she was kneeling down near her friend, her face felt wet. _She couldn't_ _hear anything. Why couldn't she hear anything?'_

Annalise tried to form words, but her tongue felt like lead, and pressure was rising in the back of her throat, her fingers - they were reaching out to Mindy-

After what felt like a small eternity, two large familiar warm hands gripped her shoulders familiarly, bringing her slowly back to the present. A voice filtered through her ears. “That’s it, Lissie, breathe through it. Deep breaths, you’re okay-”

A choked sob escaped her throat, and suddenly she realised she was heaving. “But she’s not okay, Nik, she’s not-”

She felt herself being stood up and slowly moved away. She blindly reached her bright red hands out to her friend in pieces on the floor, trying to get back to her. Instead, Annalise felt herself get turned away into a warm embrace and she burrowed her head further in, trying to forget the haunting expression of dead surprise. Trying to forget how _red_ the blood looked when it stained her. She felt arms around her tighten, jolting her back into reality. Lis sniffled and started to step away; a hazy memory of Nik freezing up when she hugged him earlier blinked in her mind - he must feel uncomfortable. 

Looking at his expression however, all that existed was rage. Annalise stepped away and wearily leaned against his side as he kept staring at the pool of blood staining the ground. 

Lis felt grim knowing there was nothing she could do to stop Nik’s wrath. She hoped Elena was ready.

Nik certainly was.

-

Annalise walked down the stairs a while later after a good cry and a long shower in her bedroom. Her eyes stung, and her nose was still runny. She walked uncertainly over to where she desperately wanted to avoid; the room where Mindy had been killed was a flurry of activity. Someone was mopping the ground, another was painting the walls, and a bunch more entered and exited with purpose, all while Nik stood eerily still leaning against the table, staring off into the distance. She went to approach him as another blond hybrid did – _Was it Daniel? -_ He was carrying a small white sack with something in it, stained a bright red. She felt light-headed. ‘ _Please don’t tell me-’_

“What do you want me to do with her head?” Annalise felt anger fill her at the way her friend was being treated, and she stalked over to hear Nik reply in a low voice. “Just get rid of it, burn it. I honestly don’t care Daniel.”

“Well I _fucking_ do. Give it here.” Daniel looked at her strangely and complied while Nik gave her a considering look. Steeling herself, she gingerly held on to the sack and teleported herself out of the mansion into the grounds at the back that her window overlooked. Everything in her screamed to fling the sac away from her in her discomfort, but she set it down gingerly in a bed of blue flowers at the end of the lawn, at the opening into the forest beyond.

Annalise collapsed in front of it and couldn’t help but cry again. It felt wrong, knowing Mindy had been laughing with her just an hour before. She bowed her head and hoped her new friend was at peace. She gasped out a low murmured, “ _Ardeo_ ’, and watched sadly as the sac and its contents caught on fire and burn a bright white until not even ashes remained. The surrounding flowers weren’t harmed by the fire at all - Lis decided to take a small comfort in that.

Sighing, she teleported back into the room Nik had been in only to see the entire room empty except Nik and Tyler, they were arguing. Tyler’s voice was low and angry. “What the hell is wrong with you? I’m not hurting Caroline.”

Lis stepped forwards immediately. “What’s going on?”

Tyler glanced at her before turning back to glare at Nik. “He told me to bite Caroline.”

Annalise was already shaking her head joining Tyler’s side, he stood up straighter at her support. “He's right Nik, hurting an innocent girl is _not_ the way to go. There’s been enough death today. _Please._ Caroline’s done nothing to deserve this.”

Nik glanced at her before backing away with a smile that looked as fake and insincere as his tone as stretched across his lips. “All right, all right. I’m disappointed, but it’s your choice, free will and all that. I’ll find another way to strike at Stefan. You can go now.”

Lis and Tyler exchanged wary and surprised glance, not expecting Nik to give up that easily. As he turned to leave, she sent the boy a soft smile, which he returned.

She turned to look at Nik and walked to his side. “Okay big guy, what are you up to?”

He glanced at her with empty eyes. No answer. She sighed. “Nevermind. I ju-just wanted to let you know I put Mindy near the flowers in the back lawn. She mentioned she liked them yesterday.” She felt herself tear up again and turned away to exhale shakily. Lis wrapped her arms around herself and turned, making eye contact with him awkwardly. He lifted a brow.

“Hey, um…thanks for the hug. And stepping down from hurting Caroline.” She saw something flicker in his eyes, _guilt?_ before nodding at her then promptly ignoring her. She stepped away and made it to the door before turning back again. “Also, um, I reckon I’ll have an early night tonight, but call me if you need me. Thanks for the bedroom by the way. It’s nice, I like it.” She turned away before he replied and walked wearily up the stairs to her room, avoiding any hybrids, and finally releasing a big sigh as she closed the door shut behind her.

She noticed a large mug standing on her bare dresser that she hadn’t noticed before – on its side there was a customised inscription: ‘ **Vodka’s always the answer –** _ **L to M**.’ _

Lis sat back on her bed and stared at the cup before promptly bursting into tears.

-

Night-time had fallen when Annalise woke up again. She felt crusty, and her face felt stiff from crying. She forced herself out of bed, cleaning the tear tracks left on her glasses with the bottom of her shirt and made her way into the conveniently attached bathroom to the right of her bed.

She had just gotten dressed in sweats and a comfortable tee after another long, warm shower, when she heard her phone vibrate. She picked it up from her bedside table, noticed it was Nik and answered straight away.

“Nik, what up, buttercup?” Her voice was still croaky, but she wanted to make light of the situation. His serious tone wiped the growing smile off her face.

“Lissie, we might have a situation. Stefan’s apparently taken Elena as a last-ditch attempt to convince me to do his bidding.”

She immediately burst into action, grabbing a jacket and rushing down the stairs. “Oh shit, is she alright? What do you want me to do?”

“I’m at the Lockwood mansion Lissie, at the front. Near the hedges.” She understood what he meant immediately. Tugging a pair of sneakers on, she appeared a few metres away from Nik the next moment. Annalise jogged over to him, noticing Damon lingering close behind. She noticed everyone was dressed in fancy ballgowns and tuxes, and immediately felt self-conscious of her baggy clothes.

“I’m a tad under-dressed. Don’t comment. What can I do?” 

Damon interjected immediately. “Teleport! Teleport straight to Elena or bring her here.”

She winced at him. “Not gonna work bud. My magic’s been acting up – I can’t figure out where she is magically. If I know exactly where she is, though, I can teleport to the location.”

“Ugh, well, aren’t you just _conveniently useless_ -”

Nik’s phone suddenly rang and both Damon and Lis’s head whipped around in unison. Nik moved closer to them for Annalise’s benefit and put the call on speaker.

“Stefan, how nice to hear your voice.” Lis and Damon drew closer, both exchanging worried glances hearing a racing car.

Stefan’s sounded demanding. “Tell your hybrids to get out of town Klaus.”

“Well, that’s not gonna happen until I get my coffins back.” Nik was quick to shoot the idea down, infuriating a loudly gesturing Damon. 

“Okay. Well, then I’m gonna drive your blood source off Wickery Bridge.”

Lis’s eyes widened before shutting immediately, trying to picture the old bridge she drowsily watched pass as they entered Mystic Falls again what felt like an eternity ago. She kept an ear on the conversation, cursing to herself when she heard the car skid and Elena struggle before Stefan admitted to feeding Elena his blood. He was going to kill her.

Annalise blindly reached out and grabbed an arm of each of the men in front of her, teleporting them to the middle of Wickery Bridge the next instant. She felt Damon stumble away from her, disoriented, but her focus was on the car speeding down the turn entering the bridge. It was going to skid on the wet road. It was going to go over. She saw Stefan and Elena’s eyes widen as they registered the three of them standing on the middle of the road.

None of this made her panic however. She was confident she could stop the car – the bridge under her feet strangely brought her comfort. Ignoring the two men behind her, Annalise walked calmly towards the speeding car, lifted her hand up, and snapped her fingers. The sounds of the engine spluttered and died, causing the car to slow down and roll to a stop a metre in front of her.

Elena was out of the car in a heartbeat, shivering in Lis’s arms giving her a tight hug, before turning to Klaus and Damon still glaring at Stefan who was climbing out of the car avoiding everyone’s eyes.

Elena was the first to break the stifling tension.

“How could you!” Her yell held so much pain. Lis’s grip on Elena’s hand tightened in support as the girl started sobbing, “My parents _died_ going over this bridge. _I_ almost died. You knew that. You’re the one who saved me.” Her voice broke towards the end, and Lis saw a gleam of regret In Stefan’s eyes. He made to move towards Elena, but after a glance behind them, presumably at Klaus and Damon’s murderous glares, he aborted the movement and stayed in one place.

He glanced once more towards Nik before facing Elena again. “Look, he had to believe I would do it, all right? Your fear had to sell it.”

“Well it didn’t, did it?”

“He would have backed down Elena!” Stefan’s voice grew desperate, his eyes were wild. He pointed at Nik. “He has a weakness. If I know his weakness, I can destroy him!”

Tears were streaming down Elena’s face, her voice was small when she answered him. “After everything? That’s what mattered? Destroying Klaus?”

Stefan looked away from Elena towards Nik and Damon, before looking out across the lake that expanded from under the bridge. When he answered, Lis felt her heart break at the emptiness of his words despite his horrible actions just this morning.

“Destroying Klaus is all I’ve left.”

“You had me!”

He shook his head as he looked back at Elena. “I lost you the minute I left town with him. You just haven’t let yourself admit that yet.” Lis exchanged a small pitying glance with Nik. He had destroyed Stefan. This man was broken, it was obvious.

“Is that what you’re doing? Trying to make me hate you?” 

Stefan shook his head at her before starting to step away. “I don’t care what you think about me anymore Elena.” Lis didn’t miss his voice go slightly rough and unstable near the end.

“Now, now mate. You don’t get to leave that easily.” Nik blurred to Stefan’s side and shoved him into the side of the car. Annalise immediately stepped forwards, noticing how her spot next to Elena was quickly taken up by Damon.

“Nik, don’t-”

Nik ignored her, but slowly released Stefan from his grip. “Now, now Lissie, remember Mindy? Stefan needs to _listen_ to what I’ve got to say. This was a very pitiful sight. But you have managed to convince me your quest to destroy me has no bounds, so my hybrids will be out of your hair by tomorrow. If you try to anger me or make demands again, however, I will kill _you_ and _everyone in this town_ , my family be damned. _Understood_?”

He straightened Stefan up, brushing him down threateningly before letting him get into his car. Stefan nodded warily but wasted no time in driving off down the road. Nik joined Lis’s side to face Damon and Elena.

The two girls exchanged sad smiles. “Thanks again, Lissie.”

“Don’t mention it sweetheart. Go home, get some rest.” She nodded at Damon before taking Nik’s arm in order to teleport the both of them away, back to the Lockwood Mansion.

Silently they made their way over to Nik’s car, climbing into their familiar seats. Lis noticed Nik didn’t start the car, so she chose that moment to speak up. “It was nice, what you did tonight. You didn’t hurt him.” Her voice wobbled. "I thought you might, after what he did to Mindy."

“It was a pathetic sight love. But now Stefan is a broken man with nothing to lose. That makes for a dangerous enemy. It’s clear I won’t get my family back if I don’t start listening to his demands.” He turned slightly. "Would you have stopped me?" Nik narrowed his gaze curiously at her.

She swallowed, then nodded. "I'd like to think so. I know Stefan killed Mindy, he's not a saint by any means, but I'd like think I wouldn't have let you kill him. But...I helped you kill Mikael, didn't I? In that split second I thought to myself, the world would be a better place without him, and I just helped you and stood by. But I'd like to think that's different. Stefan's just not okay right now. It's different, _isn't it_?"

Annalise hadn't realised her own tone grow desperate for his reassurance near the end - but Nik did. He nodded slightly as his eyes crinkled up. "I believe so, Lissie."

She exhaled and nodded back before turning to look at him with a small smile. “You know if he does decide to drop them in the sea, I can still find them and teleport them to us, right? It’s not the end of the world.”

Nik looked at her in confusion, making Lis let out a soft snort. “Water helps amplify magic to a certain extent dummy, hell, it’d probably be easier doing that instead of trying to find them here in Mystic Falls with something royally screwing up my mojo. Point is, don’t lose hope. We’ve got a backup plan for our backup plan.”

She shared a quick smirk with a pleased looking Nik, but suddenly startled when a distraught looking Tyler appeared at her window and hurriedly tapped it. Lis climbed out of the car and put her hands on the panicked boy’s shoulders. “Hey, hey, calm down kid. Deep breaths. What’s wrong?”

“I bit her, oh god, I bit Caroline. It’s her birthday-” His voice cracked in anguish as her eyes found Nik’s.

“It’s okay, shh, it’s okay Tyler. Nik’s going to heal her. We’re going to visit her right now. Tell us the address sweetheart.”

She typed the address in her phone as quick as she could and gave Tyler a tight hug. “Hey. Everything’s gonna be alright. I promise. She’s gonna be okay. Do you wanna come with us?”

Tyler stepped away and shook his head shamefully. “No, no, I can’t.”

Lis nodded in understanding. “That’s fine Tyler; go get some rest. She’ll be fine when you see her in the morning, I promise.” 

She watched Tyler nodded and hesitantly backed away, his grieved form forlornly curling into itself as he walked up into the large house. She climbed back in the car, turned the directions on and turned to Nik, and simply said “Drive.”

-

It was a while before she spoke up softly, still looking away out into the passing roads. “You knew, didn’t you? This morning. You knew he wouldn’t be able to help himself. You knew he’d still bite her because of the sire bond, that’s why you looked guilty for a short second when I thanked you.” Nik’s silence was the only confirmation she needed. She crossed her arms tiredly in response. “You’re gonna give her your blood Nik. You’re not going to let her die.”

“How do you know?”

Annalise gave him a sad smile. “Well you _are_ driving to her house, if you haven’t noticed.”

It was silent again until they pulled up at a small house, old but cosy. They knocked on the door, Lis waved tiredly through the door window at the furious-looking Matt who approached and opened it.

Nik spoke up first, his cocky persona was back. “Tyler came to see us. Poor boy seemed quite distressed. He said Caroline had a terrible accident.”

Matt’s scowl worsened. “You _made_ him do this to her. He would’ve never done something like this.”

Nik’s face pinched. “I’m here to help _,_ Matt.”

Lis noticed a woman in uniform with short cropped blonde hair appear out of a room, and how Nik was now looking at the lady, while still addressing Matt. “My blood will heal her. Please, ask the sheriff to invite me inside.”

The woman in uniform crossed her arms, clearly guarded. “I know how this game works. You want something in return.”

Nik shook his head slightly. “Just your support.”

Lis’s eyes widened as it clicked in her mind that Nik had been working multiple angles at once all along. This was just another play to get the town under his control. Save a girl and have her mother – conveniently the sheriff, indebted to him. She didn’t know whether to be impressed or disappointed. She chose the latter and sent Nik a glare.

“Come in.”

Lis waited until Nik had walked into what seemed to be Caroline’s room, before stepping into the house herself and clicking the door shut behind her. She flashed an awkward smile at the Matt and the sheriff who was warily evaluating her, now that Nik had stopped taking up her attention.

She held her hand out. “Uh, hi. Annalise Caelis. Call me Lis. Nik’s witch of sorts.” 

The sheriff shook her hand firmly. “Sheriff Forbes. Liz Forbes.”

Annalise chuckled nervously and rubbed her neck. “Well that’s gonna get confusing fast, sheriff. Call me Lissie then.”

The sheriff nodded, before saying, “I heard that you try to help people. That you helped my daughter and her friends.”

“Uh, I’ll be honest sheriff, I just didn’t want to see kids get hurt, it really isn’t that big a deal-”

“It was to me.” The sheriff cut in with a slight smile. Lis nodded and shot her a tight-lipped smile, before waving in return at Matt disappearing into the kitchen.

She situated herself outside the room that Nik had disappeared into and leaned her back against the wall.

“Um...I’ll just wait here then, until he’s done. Go, rest. We’ll see ourselves out. Caroline’s going to be completely healed next time you see her.”

Liz Forbes moved to leave but paused. “Do you really believe that? Do you trust him?”

Lis thought back over her day – a day that had started off so great, then had ended up in the death and a near death of two people she considered herself close to. She remembered Nik calming her down, hugging her. She remembered his empty then angry eyes at Mindy’s death. She remembered the pitying look he had given Stefan when he realised how broken the man was. She remembered the silent drive up to Caroline’s house, and the guilt that had flickered in his eyes when she mentioned the girl this morning.

Leaning her back against the wall, she threw the sheriff a small smile.

“Strangely enough Liz, yeah, I think I do.”

The sheriff nodded slowly and walked into an adjacent room – one which still had a clear line of sight to Caroline’s room, especially the bedside table filled up with birthday cards. The mother was still wary then; good.

Shutting her eyes, she leaned her head back, trying not to listen in on the low voices carrying through the open door. Nik was whispering anyway; his words were muffled from this distance. Weirdly, she had faith that he would do right by Caroline.

Zoning out, she tried once more to get through the fog blocking her senses from feeling and locating anything magical in the Mystic Falls area. It was odd, the fog held an unnatural feel to it, almost other worldly. Strange. This was the exact same sensation she felt when the Gilbert miracle ring blocked her from trying to bring Alaric back to life! But how’s the ring and the magic blocking her connected? Was the ring malfunctioning or was it even the reason behind Alaric’s prolonged death state? Why would someone want to keep a soul in limbo for longer? What the heck was going on?’

A throat cleared to her right, causing her to snap out of her spiralling thought process. Matt was holding out a glass of water, his other hand was in his pocket. He flashed her a tight smile.

Lis took the water with a nod and sipped it. “Thanks Matt.” 

“I heard about what you did for Elena tonight. So, thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me Matt. Please. I’ve told you and your friends before. Damn, have you all never had someone help you because it’s the right thing to do?”

Matt chuckled and went to go lean on the wall opposite her next to the front door, mirroring her stance. “Not really, no.”

“Huh, that’s pretty shitty.” They exchanged smirks then stood silently for a couple minutes before Matt spoke up.

“You know, I remember when you were at the school with Klaus, and you were talking about magical science theory, and chemical agents and then disappearing right in from of our eyes. Bonnie said later that what you did and said – it was so advanced that it wasn’t in any of her grimoires, or her grandmother's. How did you know all that? If you’re so powerful, why are you even with Klaus?”

The question hung in the air for a while as Lis contemplated on how she should answer it. She faltered as it brought up memories she wasn't ready to confront yet. Annalise took a large gulp of water before she started. “I’ll answer the second question first. Weirdly, it’s the easiest one to answer. He saved me, then one thing led to another, and I swore to work for him until he decides to let me go. Plus, don’t judge, but that egomaniac’s kinda grown on me.”

A chuckle escaped her at Matt’s clear grimace. “Hey, I said don’t judge, I never said I made good life choices. You’re probably better than me kid. Anyways, the first question. That’s a longer story." Annalise looked down into the glass in her hands, doing her best to keep her voice steady. She was proud, but also missed them so _much._ "The world is constantly evolving – there are literal degrees on magic science for warlocks and witches now on every continent. Insanely hard though, I happen to be one of a handful of people who finished the theory and the training. I’ll forward some recommendations to Bonnie if she ever wants to leave those old grimoires behind.”

The incredulous look Matt was giving her made her laugh. “You’re telling me, there are _magic schools?”_

“Hmm…sort of. Not really Hogwarts, more like a course in community college.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I swear I’m not.”

It was silent while Matt digested this information then he let out a quiet huff. “Why the hell not. Just when I thought I couldn’t be anymore frickin _useless.”_

Lis watched on sadly as they boy internally beat himself up. “Don’t say that Matt. I think you’re cool. You don’t let your weaknesses stop you or define you. You’re human, but you manage to keep up with witches and vampires and werewolves. That’s a feat in itself. Don’t sell yourself short, bud, you’re doing better than you think.”

Silence reigned once more after Matt nodded and looked deep in thought.

Annalise was fiddling with her empty cup when Nik walked out of Caroline’s room. Both Matt and Lis kicked off the wall and stood up straighter, with the sheriff also joining them shortly. 

“She’s fine, healed. Thank you for your compliance Sheriff. We’ll be on our way.” With that, Nik promptly walked out the door leaving everyone confused at his abrupt departure.

“Right, um, okay. That’s my cue. Nice meeting you Sheriff. Elena has my number if you need it. Thanks for the water, good night!”

Lis rushed out after placing the empty glass in Matt’s hands and climbed into the car just as Nik sped off.

“Nik? Did something go wrong?”

He didn’t answer, but Lis didn’t push any further. He would tell her in his own time, she trusted it.

-

She had just finished washing up and had started climbing into bed when a knock sounded on her bedroom door, startling her. “Oh, uh...hi. What up?”

Her hands involuntarily threw up gang signs. 

Nik squinted at her but didn’t comment. He moved in slowly next to her bedside before handing her an expensive looking wooden jewellery box. Confused she opened it, revealing a beautiful glittering bracelet made of linked hearts encrusted in real-looking blinking diamonds. It was chunky, but tasteful.

“Oh, wow Nik, I don’t know what to say. Except that this really isn’t my style…thanks for trying though?” Huffing, Nik yanked the box back from her and snapped it shut.

“It isn’t for you, brat. It’s for Caroline. For her birthday.”

Lis stared at Nik for a long moment before a Cheshire cat grin crawled slowly onto her face until her smile was so gleeful that his expression turned vaguely worried.

“You have a _crush-!”_ A large hand covered her mouth immediately, and she was met with a heavy glower.

Nik wasn’t having her delight. “Answer simply. Did you catch a glimpse of Caroline’s bedside table?”

Lis’s eyes were smiling over his hand still over the lower half of her face as she slowly nodded a yes. “Right, listen carefully Lissie. I need you to teleport this to her bedside table. Understand?”

She nodded again, then grinned at him when he took his hand off her mouth. “You need to like, put a ribbon and a note on this or some shit to make it pretty, dude. Then I’ll put it there for you.”

He nodded, disappeared, then reappeared a few minutes later with a cute white ribbon around the box with a simple note in elegant cursive simple reading **‘From Klaus.’**

“Aww, perfect. I love that the big bad hybrid has ribbons handy for occasions such as these.” Nik just sighed tiredly.

She held the wrapped box in her hand, visualised Caroline’s bedside table before she incanted. “ _Volo abire ad locum.”_

The box vanished from her hands in a flash of silver.

A beat passed before Lis’s smile slowly dropped as she looked up at Nik still hovering near the edge of her bed. The implications of what Nik just asked her to do, hit her. “You know Nik, jokes aside, Tyler’s a cool kid, I hope you don’t screw him over. He could make for a pretty bad enemy.”

“Tyler won’t lift a hand against me.” He was quick to dismiss her statement. 

“You don’t know that Nik. You saw what happened to Stefan - you indirectly made him lose Elena. Tyler’s really in love with Caroline. I hope you don’t hurt him too.”

He nodded, standing up. “Thank you for your words of warning, Lissie, but they’re not necessary.” She shrugged.

“Okay, then. You know best Nik.” 

He paused, clearly not expecting her to give up that easily. “That’s it? You’re going to say nothing further on the topic?”

She sent him her signature shit eating grin, deciding to keep it light. “Well if you wanna hear more, I have this great joke about the jewellery you just sent her and the words sugar, and daddy in no particular order-”

Her face met her pillows violently as Nik shoved her shoulder so she hit the bed with a considerable amount of force, before ignoring her giggles and stalking out of her room.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you laugh you jerk. Oi! Where are your manners? Shut the door behind you!”

A hand reached back in her room and shut her door with finality. Annalise snorted to herself before turning to turn her lamp off and settling into bed. The moonlight reflecting off the large mug on her dresser caused her smile to drop immediately.

Tiredly, she burrowed deeper into her sheets and tried to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing Klaus and Lis's interaction in this chapter - did you guys enjoy their dynamic?


	12. The Ties that Bind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An early chapter just because I have an exam coming up in a week so naturally I'm procrastinating.  
> Strong language warning - as always  
> And not beta-ed - as always.  
> Enjoy!! :)
> 
> Update - Revised

It had been a tiring few days, filled with long nights of tossing and turning. Annalise hadn't had a good night's rest since her new friend had been literally beheaded in front of her - it sucked. 

This morning however, a beautiful sunrise greeted her tired eyes, accompanied by cheerful birdsong. It felt different today; as if nature itself was telling her to get the fuck out of bed, despite nature's magic still feeling as distant as ever from her. The sunbeam shining directly on her face was insistent enough to prove her assumption. Giving up on trying to fall back asleep, she got ready and with a determined exhale, she went on the same jogging track she had taken with Mindy just a few days before.

As Annalise ran the familiar path, her eyes moistened at the silence that nature provided and her gasps came out louder. She ran to forget, and to remember. She'd never grown used to losing people.

Her childhood had been lonely, and she had been a quiet orphan, rarely outspoken. High-school was better, but not so much. After all, she could only be so close to someone before they start asking about her family, her past; before they started wondering why she was such a mystery, or why she flinched at certain words. The occasional combustion of bushes and clothes was also a hot topic (pun intended) around her due to accidental bursts of magic under emotional duress – those events weren’t tied back to her, true, but she worried, nonetheless.

Lis had however managed to make some witch friends while studying magic theory at Uni, but...those memories were almost too painful to remember. Annalise had let them down, unforgivably. Then, of course, Gloria happened.

Nik was the first person Annalise had an honest conversation with, her cards were all on the table. Granted, she only spoke the truth because she was terrified for her life as she had heard rumours of what happened to those who lied or defied _‘Klaus the Legendary Original’_ \- but it was a friendship built on honesty, nevertheless. Same with Bekah. In the span of a few days, she had poured out her entire past to two virtual strangers, and they had taken the utter mess that she was, in stride. Hell, her sad life was probably nothing compared to the chaos of theirs. She felt they understood her, and she understood them.

Was it sad that that was all she needed? To be understood, and taken for who she was?

Then she had met Mindy. Lis had known the hybrid for less than a week, but it was her friendship that felt the most normal, in a weird way. They laughed together about stupid things, gossiped about the train wreck that was flannel and bonded over their love of alcohol. It was a casual, superficial friendship - one of the most genuine ones she’d had in her life. Death was sad in its permanence, as it always is, but it was the suddenness of Mindy's death that caused Annalise the most grief. She didn’t know why.

Maybe it was because she didn’t get to say goodbye.

Finally reaching the Mystic Grill, which was _just_ opening up for the day, she ordered a cream cheese breakfast bagel and an extra-large cappuccino – the words American’s used for ordering coffees still confused her to no end, so she usually just ordered in “Australian” and accepted whatever the barista handed her. Nodding her thanks to the barista after collecting her order she snuck out through the back of the restaurant, then teleported herself to her bedroom from a well-hidden corner in the alley.

She couldn’t be bothered running back.

The sun had now risen higher past the tree line and her room was illuminated in a warm orange glow. Picking up the large mug her friend had left her with shaky hands, Lis gave it a quick rinse and dried it, before emptying her coffee into the mug. With her bagel in one hand and coffee mug in the other, she sat on the large and comfortable windowsill until her coffee was gone, her bagel was done, and the sun was shining on the patch of blue flowers near the forest.

She smiled to herself sadly when the pain finally lessened.

-

The house was unnervingly empty now that Nik had sent all the hybrids away. The low sounds of construction that echoed from the second floor were made by the compelled workers under his employ. She didn’t like it, of course, but he had promised her that they were being well compensated for their time. Lis decided to take his word for it.

When she found him after wandering through the strangely empty house, it was obvious the Original Hybrid was scheming again - he was sitting at the new table in the finished study on the bottom floor. “What’s cooking, Nik? You look serious.”

He regarded her silently for a moment, searching her face for something Annalise couldn't quite put her finger on. It was once she cocked a questioning eyebrow, he visibly came to a decision, gesturing at the empty chair in front of him. “You asked me a while ago, about what was in the fourth coffin.”

Lis nodded slowly, taking a seat. “Yeah, and you didn’t answer. I didn’t want to push. Figured you’d tell me if I needed to know.”

He nodded, steepling his hands and bracing his chin on them. “It’s my mother.” His green eyes watched her carefully as she digested this information.

The pseudo-witch gaped while she processed this, then blurted out a slew of confused questions. “Wait the Original Witch? The one you killed? Why the heck are you lugging your dead mom around?! Your siblings, I understand. They’re vampires, so they’re desiccated, not dead. But the corpse of your dead mum? That’s pretty morbid my dude.” Her voice pitched higher and higher as she spoke in disbelief, and Nik's eyes crinkled at her disbelief.

“She isn’t dead – not really.”

Annalise pulled a knee up on the chair, arm wrapped around it as she leaned forwards curiously. “Yeah, I suppose that’s right. It was her, wasn’t it, that reached out to Matt from the other side and tried to convince you to kill Elena? Tried to drop the veil using her necklace?”

Nik nodded in affirmation. “After I killed my mother, Ayanna Bennett - Bonnie’s ancestor from my time - preserved Esther’s body in a coffin. The same one I’ve been carting her around in for years. I haven’t been able to open it however – there’s powerful magic keeping it closed.”

Biting her lip, Annalise frowned, mentally trying to sift through her knowledge. “Did she have a grudge on you too?”

Nik laughed loud humourlessly. “At this point, it’s safe to assume all witches do.”

Annalise nodded once in understanding before running a hand through her hair. “Here’s some information that might help. I learnt a bit about the Bennett line back in Uni. They’re powerful, and especially excel in the Elemental and Ancestral magics. Knowing that Ayana was a Bennett, and that she wanted to make sure you could never open the coffin - even if you did have access to an elemental witch, so I reckon it’s pretty safe to assume that she used Ancestral magic to spell Esther’s coffin shut.”

The chair opposite her slid back smoothly on the newly polished wooden floor as Nik stood up and started pacing. “I’ll get Daniel and a couple other hybrids tracking down the entire Bennett line immediately. We can’t focus solely on Bonnie until we know for a fact that she’s the one and only Bennett remaining.” He took out his phone and started texting rapidly.

“Wait, Nik, you want to open the coffin _now?_ You don't even have it. We don’t know anything for certain yet, please. Tell them not to hurt anyone.”

He narrowed his eyes at her before going back to texting. Silence blanketed them for a while, with the occasional typing and pacing footsteps filling it. Annalise hoped she didn’t just send Bonnie’s relatives to an early grave. 

As the thought sat heavily on her shoulders, Lis abandoned Nik to his plotting wordlessly and found refuge in her room.

-

Nik had collected her from her room soon afterwards and had driven them to the Salvatore Boarding house in record time. The House was beautiful; rustic with warm brick and creeping ivy, high roofs and lush gardens. There was even a small brook to the side, off the carpark.

Unfortunately, Nik didn’t pause to appreciate its beauty like she did, instead heading straight for the door and just inviting himself in. Lis jogged to catch up and shut the door behind her. “Nik! You can’t just _walk_ into someone’s house.”

He raised his arms and shrugged at her. “But I just did.” Dropping his arms, he smirked before making himself at home on an expensive looking couch in front of a large fireplace - the Boarding House was just as majestic on the inside, with high timber ceilings and expensive paintings and incredibly full bookshelves lining the living area. Annalise resisted the urge to yell at Nik to take his shoes off the couch as he laid back. “Don’t worry, no one’s home. Make yourself comfortable.” 

Stepping carefully on the expensive looking rugs on the ground she settled herself on the couch opposite his, fighting her urge to lift her legs onto it like Nik was doing. It would be bad manners, not to mention ruin how incredibly well kept the old furniture was. Nik was starting to grate on her nerves as he so obviously went out of his was to annoy her, leaning over to precariously reach for the nearby alcohol. “Do you want some bourbon Lissie? Good stuff.”

“Not in the morning, sorry. Plus, vodka’s more my speed.”

Her eyes narrowed at him in a weak glare. His foul mood must have something to do with this morning, and how he so visibly dismissed her concerns for the young witch. Shrugging at her answer, he poured himself a glass from a nearby decanter before reaching for a black remote. In an effort not to snap at him, Lis took her phone out and made herself busy logging into her favourite occult website and ordering a bunch of her favourite vials, potions, and herbs. She was gonna need a few aces in her arsenal in case this situation escalated; she had a feeling it will. 

Fun fact; this website was actually run through her community college – it was one that she had helped put up with the help of a good friend. She was insanely proud of it, but still, thinking about them was painful, but not as much as it once was. Finishing up her order in a couple minutes and paying a few dollars extra for express delivery – which was teleportation; how insanely convenient – she went into her photos to ease her boredom. Swiping, she saw the selfie that she had taken with Rebekah that she had sent her not long after she had first bought her phone. It was quickly set as her home screen.

“Hey Nik, is there any word about Bekah yet? It’s been more than a week now. I’m getting really worried.”

He was quiet for a moment, swirling his bourbon, and Annalise noted he didn't look her in the eye as he answered. “No point in stressing Lissie, I’m sure she’s fine. Rebekah’s been known for dropping off the face of the earth for a few months at a time.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing. Last night. I couldn’t sleep so I tried to see what’s messing with my senses again. I stretched out as far as I could, but I still couldn’t feel Bekah’s signature. What if she’s in Mystic falls and the same power that’s stopping me from finding the coffins is stopping me from finding her?” 

“Or alternative theory, my little sister has fled far beyond your scope in fear after she failed killing me.” Lis sagged into the couch, looking down at the photo sadly.

“Yeah, you’re probably right." Her brows furrowed. "I just don’t know why she wouldn’t reach out to me; you know?” 

The speakers to her right set into the walls suddenly blared heavy rock causing her to startle. “Oi! What the hell?”

“You were bringing the mood down.” Lis rolled her eyes and ignored the loud music – if she asked him to turn it down, he’d probably turn it right up. He was behaving like a _brat_ this morning, and she was too tired to retaliate. Instead, Annalise looked through more of her recently taken photos - some nice cliché sunsets from her window, a few with Nik looking derpy while talking to hybrids in the mansion (which was progressing nicely – the lower wing was nearly finished), before pausing on a photo she remembered taking with Mindy at Mikael's wake. A sad smile stretched at her lips. 

The front door suddenly clicked open and Stefan walk casually in. He closed the door after glancing at them unsurprised, as if it was completely normal coming home and finding your house was broken into. Stefan walked past Nik, glanced at her, then picked up the remote, nonchalantly flipping it in the air before turning down the volume on the rock song playing loudly in her ears.

Annalise levelled him with a narrow glare when he gave her an uncertain look. It was no secret that she pitied the man. Murder did, after all, usually come from a place of desperation. But...that conversation with Nik in the car - it made Annalise realise that she didn't blame Stefan for Mindy's death fully, at least not enough to watch him die.

Stefan then looked to Nik who still hadn’t said a word and was busy ignoring him by staring at the ceiling. Mature. Annalise wasn't surprised. 

“What are you doing here Klaus?” Stefan boredly took the initiative to start the conversation. 

“Enjoying our stalemate.” 

Stefan was having none of it. He glared hard at the Hybrid. “What do you want?”

“Question is, what do _you_ want?” When Nik finally looked at him, he looked pretty annoyed despite his still steady tone. “My hybrids left town as you demanded, so please tell me what I need to do to get my family back.”

“Well, Klaus,” Stefan cleared his throat and stepped back, sitting at a lone ornate and vintage looking chair facing the two couches before shrugging his hands in the air. “Um, I’m not negotiating.”

Lis squinted at the vampire. Did he have a death wish? It looked like he has a death wish.

She spoke up uncertainly as if talking to a child. “But like, that’s the same thing as dropping them in the ocean. Holding someone’s family over their head for eternity is _not_ cool man.” Nik pointed to her in agreement and looked at Stefan for an answer.

Stefan shook his head as if they were missing something important. “No, no. You leave Mystic Falls and then give me a call in a few years and…we’ll talk.”

Nik was clearly reaching the end of his patience – he took a hearty swig of bourbon before passing the vampire across him a razor sharp smile. “I’m gonna give you another chance. Just one more. Let’s make a reasonable deal.”

Stefan leaned on the arm of his chair closer to Nik, baiting him. “Or what? You make one move and I will drop-”

He was cut off by Nik chuckling.

“That’s right. Crazy Stefan. Hmm,” He inhaled deeply, a knowing smirk settling across his lips. “How’s that working out for you? Any friends left?”Stefan leaned back in his chair and watched annoyedly as Nik stood, brushing past him and out through the door.

Lis stood too, walking up to Stefan with her arms crossed. “Look, you have to realise you’re being an ass – I don’t agree with what he did to you, but you are getting just as bad as him. You honestly can't think going around _beheading_ people is the way to get him to do what you want.”

He raised him arms, dispassionately. “I need to be worse than him to beat him.”

“This isn’t about beating anyone Stefan! People might _die_ because of this spite, hell Mindy already did-”

Stefan’s face was suddenly an inch from hers, seething. They stood toe to toe; eyes narrowed. “I. Don’t. Care. I’m going to _destroy_ him.”

Annalise grit her teeth. “You cared that night.” He visibly faltered, so she kept going. “You cared about hurting Elena; so, take your own advice Stefan, and admit it to yourself. You. Do. Care. Your switch is on, you’re just not letting all the emotion out just yet. And this path you’re on? It’s not going to destroy Nik, but I can guarantee it destroys _you_. It’s just spreading needless pain. Stop before you take it too far and everything spirals out of control. Please.”

She had said what she wanted to say. It was up to him now to decide what to do with it.

Sighing, she walked away without a backwards glance, shutting the front door and climbing into Nik’s car. “Hey, can we go somewhere to grab a bite to eat? It’s pretty late in the afternoon, and I’m kinda getting hungry.” She looked across at him as he started the car and drove off in the direction of the town silently. “Thanks. And hey, we’ll get them back. Even your whack-ass mom, no offense-intended. We just don't need to hurt people to do it.” 

“Oh, we'll see, Lissie. We'll see.” Nik’s smirk promised death to all involved.

Lis rolled her eyes. What. A. Diva.

-

Annalise ordered the special, and watched Nik order a glass of whiskey. Neat.

“Alcoholism is a thing, you know. How about a healthy late lunch, or technically early dinner?” He rolled his eyes at her, so she exaggeratedly put her hand to her chest in hurt before dunking a chip in ketchup. He was on his phone again, talking to Daniel. Balancing on the unstable stool, Annalise leaned closer to listen on the faint conversation from Daniel’s side.

“How’s life on the road?”

“Scenic. How’s Mystic Falls without any hybrids?”

“Boring, for now.” She narrowed her eyes and threw a fry at Nik, insulted. He grinned at her.

“If you want any of us back, just say the word.”

“There’s no need, I’ve been making friends with the town’s civil servants.” Lis snorted. That’s one way of putting it. She’d personally word it as 'forcing their hand using their children as collateral'...it was far more accurate. _“_ There’s a deputy who’s awfully chatty, but useful, nonetheless.” Nik’s casual tone turned abruptly serious. “Are you clear on what you need to do?”

“I’ve got it covered.” Daniel answered before ending the call abruptly.

Wrinkling her nose in confusion, she finished her burger off. “What was that about? What does Daniel need to do?”

Nik smirked at her smugly. “Turns out, Bonnie’s mother lives a few towns away, estranged. I sent Daniel to her. I need him to do something.”

Annalise rolled her eyes. “Is it too much to hope this _isn't_ tied to our disagreement this morning?” He shook his head.

“I told Daniel to use Bonnie’s mother as leverage. If Bonnie doesn’t tell us where the coffins are, someone gets hurt. Badly. That’s why we’re waiting here, happy?"

She glared at her chips, eating them violently. It was silent for another half-hour until he spoke up again. “The hybrids got back to me about Alphonse this morning. They said he wasn’t checking anywhere that important, just some abandoned house in the woods that was haunted.”

“Huh, great...” She took out her phone and used data to search up the haunted house in Mystic Falls for a couple minutes. She had time to kill, and she was bored and angry. She needed something to distract herself. A haunted house was usually the result of a spiritual remnant - maybe it was a supernatural hotspot.

Annalise froze as her shot in the dark actually yielded a plausible result. 

“Wait, look! Nik!” She nearly fell off the chair in her hurry to get up, but scrambled upright to show him her phone. “This says it’s haunted because a bunch of witches were burned there back in the Salem Witch Trials.” He looked closer at the photo of an abandoned house covered in dark vines and dirt with narrowed eyes, listening to her continue. “If we accept that as historically accurate – this place could mean hundreds of witch spirits not at rest – a huge source of power!”

Nik grinned in comprehension as he finished her sentence. “This is probably the power the young Bennett uses frequently.”

“AND more importantly, the witch spirits are most likely what’s messing with my powers! A legion of pissed magical spirits sounds pretty powerful. If Alphonse didn’t return, if he was killed, that means he found something he shouldn’t have. I bet you anything your family is being held there as well.”

Nik clapped her shoulder with a broad grin and stood up. “I knew keeping you around wasn’t completely useless. Well done, Lissie. Let’s go visit this haunted house.” 

She grabbed his arm. “Wait – call Daniel. Let him know that we know where the coffins might be. Tell him not to hurt Bonnie, or her mom.”

Nik’s eyes hardened as he shook her off. “I can’t let go of a solid lead just based on the fact that the coffins _might_ be where you think they are Lissie. Let’s go.”

Huffing, she brushed past him angrily and settled in the car drawing up the directions on her phone. “Fine. Come on then, let’s go check this place out before anyone gets hurt.”

The drive there was quiet. They had just pulled up when Daniel called again, confirming their hunch. Nik softly told her that no one had been hurt. Yet.

“But someone’s probably scarred for life.” Annalise's voice was clipped in annoyance as she whispered. “Come on. I might not be able to feel you right next to me magically, but this whole building gives off a strange vibe. It feels almost threatening to me, but you said all witches probably hate you, so stay on guard.”

Nik lead the way, zooming around the house quickly before gesturing her to join him walk softly down the stairs into the lower foor. There were lit candles everywhere – _um...fire hazard much?_ and Damon stood suspiciously in the centre of the empty - not to mention extremely dusty - basement.

“Damon. Fancy seeing you here.” She waved awkwardly. Bonnie had managed to warn him - or he was guarding something here. Either way, it seemed like he was looking to distract them. Annalise braced herself, eyes flicking warily around the room at the numerous lit candles casting them in an orange glow. Something told her they weren't there just for lighting and decoration purposes.

Damon sent her a smirk that rivalled Nik’s. “Hey Lissie. Pleasure as always.”

Nik sneered at him, walking further into the room, circling him like a predator would. “Hiding behind your witchy friends, huh. And in squalor no less.”

Unexpectedly, the gentle flames of the candles erupted into geysers of fire, and Nik fell to the floor yelling in pain. Her reaction was immediate as she rushed over putting a hand on his shoulder yelling, “ _Sanaet protego!”_

The candles burned brighter, but the Hybrid paused when the pain he had felt lifted from his shoulders. He managed to stand up shakily despite the ongoing spell, glancing at her thankfully. Damon stepped slightly back in shock. “How did you do that?”

Annalise just shrugged in response, but grimaced at the effort of holding back this many witch spirits – they were hurting _her_ now. Damon tried to gain back control of the situation. “Look at you, hiding behind your own little witch. But I wouldn’t do that again. Insulting a bunch of dead witches? Not smart. I made the exact same mistake first time I came in here.”

Nik was livid though, his mouth tightened as Lis let out a small gasp of effort. “You know the funny thing about witches, is that living or dead, they care about their own. A hundred dead witches have a thousand living descendants.” The flames burned brighter but Nik stood standing, glancing back at Lis wincing in concentration trying to keep his pain at bay. “I have no problem killing every last one of them if you don’t stop this assault on my witch, and I don’t get my coffins back. As we speak, my hybrid friend is prepared to end the Bennett line.”

Lis’ silver eyes flew open. “Nik! Don’t you _dare_ -”

The threat had been adequate in silencing the witches though; the candles flared then tapered back down to a gentle flame in an instant, plunging the room back into a semi-dark lit basement.

Damon looked properly disconcerted as Nik walked up to him threateningly, before he turned to address the witch spirits of the empty room. “Now, please show me the coffins.”

Lis was still trying to catch her breath as three dusty coffins appeared out of thin air, one materialising literally at her hip making her jerk back in in surprise. _Wait, three?_ She spoke out in confusion. “Hold up. Nik, I thought there was supposed to be four?”

The hybrid immediately turned back to the dark-haired vampire. “Where’s the last one?” He turned back to the room addressing the spirits. “Show me!”

Lis’s eyes trailed to Damon as he smiled, smugly walking to the opposite side of the room where a cleared space lay clear of any dust unlike every other surface in this room. “Well, uh, here’s the thing. They can’t. It’s not here.” He sounded sheepish.

“What did you do?” 

“Well, Bonnie gave me the heads up. I mean, I didn’t have enough time to get all four, but I did have time to get one.” As he came close, Lis moved in the opposite direction. She was wary – she had heard of this unpredictable vampire. Even if she had saved Elena multiple times, she was under no false impressions that would garner her any good will in his terms if killing her meant disadvantaging Nik - especially after Damon had seen her come to Nik's defence.

Speaking of, Nik was sounding suitably pissed. “I will _tear_ you limb from limb.” Oh look, he’s growling again. “And only then, when you are a _writhing_ _mass of flesh and blood_ , will I rip your heart from your chest.”

The graphic imagery made Lis blanch, but clearly didn’t have the same effect on Damon, since he just grinned.

“Sorry. Same rules apply. Leverage and all. I know you want your family back. But something tells me you want what’s in that coffin a lot~ more." Damon sang the last two words gleefully, before waving cheerily at Annalise.

"See ya Sabrina. Klaus.”

He was gone in a flash, leaving Nik seething in the no longer completely empty basement. Judging by the absence of the most magical coffin, she assumed Nik had reached the conclusion his mother was currently in the hands of the one with that could open it. Annalise sighed, walking over to him. “Hey, we got your brothers back. Half the battle’s won – we are miles ahead of where we were this morning. I’ll send these coffins ahead. Will the parlour do?”

At his wordless nod, she held both hands up, visualising the coffins in the mansion and whispered “ _Volo abire ad locum._ ” As the coffins disappeared, however, she suddenly felt thousands of hands clawing at her, nails raking stinging red lines on visible any visible skin. “Ah what the _shit_! Nik, help me out of here. _Please, it hurts._ ”

They were out in the moonlit forest the next second, Nik gently leaned her against a tree, looking at her questioningly. Annalise sighed, rubbing at the raised red lines on her bare forearms, watching them linger before disappearing slowly due to her accelerated healing one by one.

“It think it was the spirits of the house. I was right halfway– they are violent, just not _only_ against you. I’ve never really had an outright attack against me before though, but then again, they probably have more reason to hate me more now.”

As she sighed and started walking away from the tree, a hand latched on to her shoulder, turning her around. “Thank you, Lissie. This morning I-”

She sent Nik a small smile. She knew he meant more than what she did tonight. “You don’t have to say that. It’s what friends do.”

He smiled back, eyes bright. “Not your friend.”

Lis chuckled and started walking down to where they had the car parked. “All’s good now Nik. You can wake up your family. They can even help us look for Bekah.” They climbed into the car.

“Unfortunately, Lissie, I’m afraid I won’t be waking my brothers up until I have my mother’s coffin back. I don’t want them waking up and asking unnecessary questions.”

It was then Annalise realised he was hiding something. He still hadn't looked at her properly. Studying him a long moment after nudging her glasses further up the nose, Annalise nodded, more to herself than to him. “Okay, you probably know best. But you will be reunited with them soon Nik,” Leaning forwards she adjusted the air conditioning vents in her direction to shoot out warm air. “So, tell me about them. I want to know more about these brothers of yours for when they _do_ wake up.”

He smirked and talked about his brothers the entire drive home.

-

They split up at the stairs. Nik said Daniel had come by to help with the coffins and that they didn’t need any help in getting them to the room they were going to be stored in.

Lis had wanted to go to bed. Fighting a legion of superior-than-thou witch spirits took a lot out of her. Sure, Annalise had made progress in leaps and bounds in her magic stamina (for the lack of a better term) since she’s met the Originals, but as proficient as she was getting, she wasn't eager to go up against them again anytime soon. Though when she thought about it, nothing had completely exhausted her magic yet.

She supposed she should be thankful. 

Annalise washed up, but was craving a warm tea before bed, so she padded downstairs once more into the kitchen. The hybrids had stocked up on some human food items out of courtesy for her a few days back.

She boiled some water with a flick of her wrist in her mug, popped a teabag in and reached past the bottles of blood to grab her milk carton from the fridge, pouring herself a generous amount. Sounds came from second living room, she initially thought it was just Nik, but another voice joined his. That was odd - they didn't often get visitors this late at night. Tapping the milk and teleporting it back into the fridge, she grabbed her tea, thanked herself for buying these soft fluffy slippers protecting her feet from the cold tiles and made her way softly to the room.

“Hey, Nik! I need to tell you about these amazing chocolate biscuits from Australia called Tim Tams that I absolutely need you to stock up on, you can dunk them in and use them like a straw with tea-”

She cut herself off with a gasp as she rounded the corner and found Nik standing opposite a tall, man - handsome and dressed in a sharp suit with ruffled dark hair and a _heart?!_ in his hand. Both heads swivelled in her direction, and she felt tiny in her big jumper, sweats and woolly Uggs. The stranger’s grip on the heart relaxed in surprise, causing it to drop to the beautifully done hard wood floors with a wet squelch.

Nik stepped back, causing the man to focus back on him, and follow him with narrowed eyes as he walked over to Lis and threw an arm around her shoulders. “Ah perfect timing, Lissie; I’d like you to meet Elijah, my favourite brother. Elijah, this is my favourite witch.”

“Not a witch.” She replied on autopilot before stepping forwards to address Elijah directly. She offered her hand for him to shake, only pausing when noticing his right hand was covered in blood. She grimaced. “Here, wait a sec, lemme take care of that for you. _Purus._ ”

Elijah watched with wide eyes as the blood disappeared from his hand, leaving it spotless, before wordlessly shaking her extended hand. His grip dwarfed hers - but she tried to smile at him while trying to get over the fact that the exact hand she was currently shaking literally had a bloody heart in it seconds ago. 

“Hi, Annalise Caelis. Um...just Lis or Lissie for short. It’s a pleasure, I’ve heard lots about you from Nik.”

A dark brow raised looking behind her at her friend. “Nik?” 

The hybrid in question shrugged.

Elijah’s voice was deep, solemn. “Well _both_ of you do look quite surprised to see me. So, I take it that it wasn’t ' _Nik'_ that removed the dagger from my chest.” His handsome face grew stern as Nik smirked. 

_Oh Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly happy with how the fic is unfolding, but I'm sorry I don't write super well - I know I need to work on my delivery, and like, elaborate more.  
> Still, you guys have my thanks for sticking it through!!


	13. Bring Out the Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments really do keep me going lol - well, that and I was procrastinating again, oops :)  
> Strong language, unbeta-ed.  
> Hope you enjoy!!
> 
> Update - Revised

Annalise slowly moved to the side of the room, clutching at her tea as Nik smiled nervously at Elijah.

“You look like you could do with a drink. And we have a lot to discuss, so shall we?” He gestured down the hallway into the finished dining hall. 

Annalise felt glad she had moved out of the way as sudden anger took over Elijah's face - he lunged at Nik in fury, landing a solid punch on his cheek that clearly whipped Nik's head to the side and left him in a daze, before lifting him easily and hurling him through the large double glass doors behind him. They sharp shattering of tempered glass rang through the air upon impact.

Lis flinched in the corner, watching tensely. If it were anyone else attacking her friend, she'd have no qualms interfering, but Nik really hadn't been lying when he introduced Elijah as his favourite brother - Annalise had heard the weight in Nik's voice when he'd talked about him on the drive up.

Nik recovered almost immediately and was already on his feet, growling at Elijah. “Easy. I just finished renovating.” He leapt at Elijah in a rugby tackle, blurring them backwards and using his vampire speed to lift Elijah up and bringing him down viciously on a lovely wooden coffee table, splintering easily under the force of Nik's throw. Annalise winced. That had been one of her favourites. 

Elijah was still on the ground trying to pick himself off the wooden splinters as Nik circled around him, breathing heavily. “You know, you have every right to be mad at me. But I kept my word, I reunited you with our family.” He lifted his arms up and shrugged with a goading smirk.

Annalise sighed to herself as Elijah's anger sparked again. He sped at Nik, landing a series of successive punches sending him stumbling backwards that made Lis wince every time he made contact. Nik fell back against a closed coffin - without another thought, he opened it, grasping the dagger embedded in the chest of a younger-looking desiccated vampire in a formal suit. Elijah charged at Nik once more, but he was able to overpower Elijah and hold him against one of the other coffins - keeping him in place by bracing the silver dagger against his chest.

He yelled in frustration. “Don’t make me do this to you again Elijah!” 

“Come on. Use it, _I dare you_. You’ll have Kol to deal with.” The older brother's voice was low, still threatening, egging Nik on.

This was enough. Annalise knew that Nik had been looking forwards to reuniting with his family, albeit maybe a bit scared about the fall out - but anticipatory nonetheless. She walked closer, unsurely. 

“Wait, Nik, don’t. I feel horrible butting into family business, but you were just telling me about how much you wanted to be reunited with your family now that Mikael’s dead.” 

They both paused before Nik registered the shock on Elijah's face, and brought the dagger down to let him stand slowly. The older Original looked towards her in confusion before levelling a glare at Nik. “What does she mean?”

Nik grew solemn. “I killed him with his own weapon. He’s gone, Elijah, forever.” It took a moment to register in Elijah’s mind, but the relief in his eyes once it did was quickly replaced with renewed anger, as he squinted at Nik, gritting his teeth. 

“Then why do our family remain in these coffins? Finn for over 900 years, Kol for over a century.”

“Because of Stefan Salvatore." Nik's eyes glinted coldly in anger as he stepped back. "He holds the one thing that keeps me from freeing them. There are things you don’t know about our past, Elijah; our mother’s death, things I never wanted you to know, but I’m ready to tell you now.” Elijah and Lis watched silently as Nik walked over to a small table holding an ornate obsidian jar, dipping the silver dagger and ash-ing it before approaching the open coffin with the young man in it. “I only ask that you remember the oath of loyalty you once swore to me.”

“What are you doing?” Elijah moved forwards to stop Nik from sinking the blade back into the chest of the desiccated Original in the coffin, but visibly stopped himself. 

Bracing himself on the coffin, Nik look to his older brother with earnest eyes. “Always and forever, brother. I need you to stand by my side. Be my brother. Help me destroy Stefan, and I _promise_ you our family will be whole again.”

It was quiet for a moment before Lis felt the need to speak up once more. “Sorry to interrupt. Again. I honestly feel like I’m intruding. The both of you need to catch up on everything, so I’m just gonna head to bed. Uh, Nik, quick note. You’re welcome to tell your brother about me and my past,” she shrugged, “it’s no big deal to me. No more secrets, right?" Annalise smiled awkwardly before twisting her hand at the broken table and the glass doors with a muttered _"Sarcio."_

Elijah's eyes grew wide with wonder as he saw both destroyed structures reassemble themselves with small pinpricks of golden light, quickly restored back to their former beauty - then his eyes snapped to the unassuming girl bundled up warm in her sleepwear taking large steps backwards out of the room, before visibly remembering something.

"Oh, another thing; I ordered a few magic materials for myself, and I put this as my shipping address. The parcel's gonna appear somewhere in the house in the next day or so, could you look out for it?" She waved at the older Original. "Elijah, it’s nice to finally meet you, despite the circumstances.” She sent him an awkward smile and he nodded in return, still looking at her strangely. “Have a good night.”

Elijah turned to look at Nik in question - unsure of what had happened.

Nik just smirked even wider. 

**-**

The next morning Annalise woke early and bumped into a couple hybrids cleaning up the body downstairs. If she was honest, Lis felt horrible that she was only _slightly_ saddened to learn that it was Daniel’s heart that Elijah had been clutching when she'd first met him. Daniel wasn’t on her favourite list of people by far, to be honest, he wasn’t even on her _acquaintance_ list because he had used to hang out with Tony and they’d always been a couple of dickheads. Then of course, he had been moved to her list of arsehole people when he had started treating Mindy’s corpse like rubbish.

Still, it was a violent way to go.

After helping clearing a bit of the remaining debris downstairs, she washed up for the morning and made her way down to the kitchen softly for breakfast. It was still quite early, so the few hybrids who had been around were gone pretty quickly, considering she had cleaned up most of the mess last night.

As she descended the grand staircase, Annalise saw Elijah near the door holding something that looked like a note - that made her pause. Nik wouldn’t pass him a note, nor would the hybrids...but he’d had contact with no one else.

 _Oh,_ apart from the person who un-daggered him. Damon. It seemed he was to thank for Elijah being let out of his coffin early.

That made sense though, in a tactical way. Nik had clued her in that his older brother had tried to help Elena and the gang back when Nik was terrorising them in order to break his hybrid curse. Well, not in those exact words, but Lis was paraphrasing.

Elijah was nice. It made sense Damon would un-dagger him in hopes of finding an ally in their quite desperate fight against Nik.

She could definitely do with another sane person to keep Nik’s spontaneous mood changes in check though. Annalise called out to him, feeling wrong about staring at him like a creeper while he was so clearly lost in his own thoughts. “Good morning Elijah! I didn’t expect to see you this early. Is Nik home?”

She sent him a friendly smile and a jaunty wave as she skipped down the rest of the stairs.

He nodded at her formally, lips lifting in an amused but polite smile. “Nor I you, Miss Caelis. I believe Niklaus is out running some errands with his hybrids.” Lis delicately elected to ignore how quickly he put the note away in his suit pocket and instead, she gestured at him to follow her into the large kitchen. “It's Lis, please. Have you had any breakfast yet? Nik keeps some in the fridge for snacking. Do you want me to heat some up for you?”

Elijah followed her slowly, watching her pour the chilled blood from the fridge into a glass, then whisper something at it, before sliding it to him across the counter. His brow lifted as he found the glass to be warm to the touch. Annalise couldn't help but bite back a grin as she watched him sip at it, looking awfully proper. Nik had said his brother had the manners of a High Born Victorian, and Annalise found that description awfully accurate. His hair was now combed back in comparison to the wild mess it was the night before, and the new suit he wore didn't have a thread out of place.

He was so put together to the point that she felt self-conscious about her light ripped jeans and cream jumper. When his she realised he'd been watching her stare at him holding back a smile, Annalise sent him an awkward grin before busying herself and preparing her cereal.

“So why is someone like _you_ working for my brother, Lis?” 

Annalise settled at a tall chair on the kitchen island facing him. “Uh...long story short; he rescued me from a witch who had less than good intentions." She chewed on a spoonful of cereal, swallowing. "But uh…'Someone like me' huh? I see Nik told you my story.” Elijah tipped his head in agreement. Lis nodded to herself. “Yeah, that’s good, you’re all caught up. Anyways, uh…I guess I’m still sticking around for a bunch of reasons. The most obvious one is that I swore that I’d work for him.”

“So, you only work for him because you have to?” His gaze sharpened. 

“Well, no. He’s kinda grown on me. So did Bekah. I mean it’s not like I agree with what he does, no way. It’s just, I figured I could help more people if I stick around, y’know? _Especially_ Nik. He seems to need it.”

Elijah nodded, passing her a small smile - not too genuine, but not entirely fake either. It was genuinely polite, and Annalise couldn't help but compare it to Mikael's detachedly polite smile as he spoke. “Niklaus told me of your loyalty. Seems too good to be true, almost.”

She snorted, electing to ignore his subtle dig. “Trust me, I think I annoy him more than I help him most of the time. He is such a grump.”

He placed his empty cup stained red on the counter and Lis flicked her hand, opening the dishwasher behind her. Both of them paused, narrowing their eyes at the large brown packaged box that seemed out of place in the dishwasher.

Annalise let out a small snort. “Oh, look, my supplies arrived. I’ll send that up to my room.” She flicked her hand at it, teleporting it to her room effortlessly.

Lis turned back casually to face Elijah, to find him still staring at the (now) empty dishwasher. To mess with him further, she concentrated; sending his used glass into the empty racks of the dishwasher where her box once occupied, before making it close itself.

Elijah's expression turned bemused as his eyes flicked to hers.

She grinned cheekily at him. “You’re welcome. It’s good practice. And less effort.”

He nodded at her again, recovering, before straightening his suit and stepping away from the kitchen counter. “Well, Lis, this was an enlightening chat. I would enjoy another with you.”

“Totally, Lijah. That’d be fun.”

Elijah paused in standing up. She winced. “Sorry, I have a problem. Ask Bekah.” He just gave her another quick nod before heading to the door. She called out to him as he reached the doorway, making him pause and turn back. “I noticed you might be going for a walk.” She gestured to the note he had hidden in his jacket pocket. Immediately, his eyes narrowed, and he stood defensively. She raised her hands in a placating gesture, smiling at him gently. 

“I’m not going to ask about it, and I’m not telling anyone either. I’ve been nothing less than honest to Nik, he’s my friend. But, you’re his _brother_. You’ve known him for literally his entire life. I trust you’ll do whatever’s in Nik’s best interest. That’s all I need to know.”

He sent her a small smile back, this one more genuine than the last, before leaving.

Lis felt like she had received his stamp of approval.

_Joy._

-

It was now later in the evening and she had been up in her bedroom with Elena texting her about a series of murders that were happening in Mystic Falls. Who would’ve ever thought that this quaint little town had a serial killer running free within it? 

Well, that is, apart from the vampires. 

The prime suspect was apparently Elena and Alaric right now, which was why Elena was asking if Nik had anything to do with it. Lis assured her Nik wouldn’t waste time being discrete about killing random people, though she believed that maybe it _didn’t_ make Elena feel as good about it as she was intending.

After asking about where Elena was now, the girl had explained about the unfortunate nature of Caroline’s father’s death in connection to the serial murders, and how her and Matt were walking home after Caroline’s father refused to complete the transition into a vampire. 

It had been a while since Elena stopped replying.

Sighing, she laid out lazily on the bed, watching the moonlight filter in through her windows. It felt peaceful, but the night also felt strangely foreboding. Something big was going to happen. Loud vibrations startled her out of her reverie when her phone suddenly started ringing.

“Elena? Why are you calling?”

“Please, _please_ come over right now. The murderer broke into our house-”

She was in the Gilbert home living room in a flash.

It was pitch black, but the bright moonlight revealed a scene out of a horror movie - bloody hand prints stained the walls, picture frames hung dangerously skewed and pools of dark liquid puddled the floor. Annalise's breath caught in her throat before she was yelling, loudly. “Elena! Where are you?”

“Up here! Please, hurry!”

She sprinted up the stairs and crossed the landing over to where Elena and Matt were crouching next to a still figure. Lis was at their side immediately, crouching down to inspect Alaric's slumped form against the wall, bleeding profusely with a large steak knife sticking out of his gut. Her voice turned stern. “Move, quickly. He isn’t dead yet, right? I can’t heal him if the ring is being used.”

“No. No, he isn’t dead.” A whimper accompanied that weak statement from her right. Elena had moved to Matt, clutching at him for support. "I thou-thought I was gonna hav-have to k-kill him before I remembered you." Tears fell down the young girl's cheeks in torrents. 

Lis nodded at her gently, before turning back to Alaric and firmly trying to stifle the wound with her hand. “Well, I'm here. We're good. Is there anyone else in the house? Where’s your brother?” Alaric groaned lightly. Her eyes examined the knife stabbed deep into Alaric’s abdomen and his still focused eyes, triaging him rapidly.

“Uh, he’s not here.”

“Double good. Okay, Alaric, I’m going to remove the knife and then immediately heal you as fast as I can." She kept talking, trying to distract him from the pain. "In a normal situation, you wouldn’t remove the knife at all, 'cos it’s keeping all the blood in – good thing you didn’t move it Elena. But if I try to heal it with magic right now, your skin is going to heal around the knife – that’s not ideal. Ready for a sharp pain Alaric?”

At the man’s pained nod, she tapped the knife, teleporting it seamlessly out of the wound and onto the shelf next to her with a clatter. She didn’t need anybody stepping on it and hurting themselves further. With her other hand, she reached out to Alaric’s wound and instantly started muttering powerful “ _Sana.”_ spells, and channelling as much magic as she safely could into the wound. This many healing spells with this much magic imbued in them caused a small glow to emit from the wound, and a warm light bathed the entire room in a gentle rippling atmosphere.

The hunter’s pained groans decreased within the minute, replaced by relieved sighs. When Lis felt the wound finally heal and close up, she sat back and gradually tapered her magic down until the entire room was dark once more.

The children next to her were speechless, still hugging each other. Alaric let out a loud breath and sat up slowly, giving her a grateful nod. “Phew, as far as stabbing goes, you healed that up well. Good as new – better even. Thank you, Annalise.”

She sighed, rolled her neck and stood up. “Don’t mention it Alaric, really. I don’t mind, but I might have to get going now.” Concentrating, she used the cleaning spell and cleaned the blood staining her hands.

Elena stood too and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much Lissie, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t here.”

Annalise squeezed her before stepping back with a slight smile. “Anytime Elena.” She looked around while she moved to help Alaric up. Matt supported the man from his other side. “What’s with the lights? Why isn’t the electricity working?”

The older man grunted, leaning on the banister. “It’s probably the main. The breaker’s downstairs near the kitchen hallway.”

Lis nodded, making sure Alaric was stable before blinking into the kitchen. Locating the breaker, she noticed cut wiring and frowned. Shrugging, she murmured a quick “S _arcio.”_ to fix it before flipping the switch, bathing the house in bright light. She teleported back upstairs to the trio, talking worriedly.

“It’s odd, some of the wires were cut – that means the killer got in before disabling the electricity. Please, be careful, lock your doors, and don’t let anyone unknown in. This immediately rules out Nik, or any of his hybrids since they have to be invited in. This means you don’t know what you guys are up against.”

Elena and Matt nodded, clearly worried out of their minds.

Better the enemy they did know than the enemy they didn’t, and right now, some stranger was breaking in and having too much fun stabbing things. They helped Alaric to his room to rest, then walked her down to the front door. Lis winced at the gory bloodstains that looked impossibly worse under the bright hallway lights and waved an arm in its direction. The blood disappeared, and the picture frames on the wall straightened on their own accord.

Matt chuckled in disbelief. “Neat. This what they teach you in Hogwarts?”

“You’re not too far off, actually. A lot more theoretical work than practical but cleaning spells are pretty handy though, as you can see.” she giggled as she replied, thankful for the lighter conversation. 

Elena thanked her again before Lis said that she really needed to go. “Nik hasn’t called me the entire day. I just have a feeling something’s wrong.”

Bidding farewell to the two teens, she appeared back in her bedroom.

-

She was in her bedroom for less than a second when a sudden crash downstairs made her pause. She strained her ears further and gently tiptoed over to the door; there were muffled sounds of yelling now. Gently twisting the door open she listened closer - the sounds were clearer now - she heard Nik and Elijah's voices distinctly, but she couldn't place the other over lapping muffled voices. There seemed to be many.

Annalise snuck her way down the winding stairs, thanking her lucky stars for being so slight and sure-footed. Maybe being this tiny wasn't a curse after all. Her lip quirked but immediately dropped when she heard Nik roar. 

"I'm the _Hybrid!_ I can't be killed! I have nothing to fear from any of _you!!"_

Okay, screw surprise, Nik sounded _hurt._

Annalise made it to the dining area and walked straight in without giving herself the chance to second-guess her decision – four pairs of eyes locked on to her as she appeared behind Nik. He whipped around with anger clear in his eyes, his mouth snarling as if she was another threat that he needed to get rid of.

His face cleared when he realised it was just her standing there awkwardly – "What's going on?"

He made no move to answer her and instead he turned back around to face the small crowd in the opposite side of the room, seething once again with his Original anger. Realising she wasn't going to get any answers from _grumpy_ , Lis walked around him to his side, finally seeing who was facing him – two strangers, with Rebekah and Elijah. 

A smile blossomed on her face. "Bekah! Oh my god, it’s so great seeing you! Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" She strode forwards, happy seeing her friend again, giving Rebekah a small smile and a quick hug while exchanging a nod with Elijah. Rebekah, still dressed in her beautiful red homecoming dress, narrowed her gaze back into a hateful glare at Nik on releasing Annalise from her hug. 

"I was daggered," Bekah growled out - "first by that Doppel- _bitch_ and then by this arsehole."

Lis whipped around, affronted. "Wait Nik, you told me that you had no idea where she is!"

"Yes, I lied to you, _so what?!_ That's apparently what I _do_! Why don’t you just join them in leaving me then?" His voice was filled with anger and malice, but to her, his eyes seemed strangely raw.

"Um no?" She shrugged stiffly, "I agree you never should have daggered Bekah, but if my friendship was conditional on you not doing stupid things, I think I would have left a long time ago, Nik." She ended with an uncomfortable smile, but her eyes were amused and warm as she turned back to Rebekah - "No offence intended Bekah, if he daggers you again, I'll kick his ass, I promise."

Nik stood straighter and turned away scoffing "Not your friend." in a low voice but it held no malice. Rebekah just threw her a slight smile.

"Who's this then?" The tallest stranger, standing nearly a head and a bit taller than Lis but clearly younger of the two new people watching broke his silence. Lis looked at him fully and took in his dark mischievous eyes and his prideful smirk - he resembled Elijah, just a bit, but his face held a bit of youthful amusement. He was dressed formally; dress pants, and waist coat on top of a moss green shirt - but his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his waistcoat was unbuttoned, giving him a rebellious appearance in contrast to his brother.

This was the man she had glimpsed when Nik and Elijah had been fighting over the open coffin. She spared a glance at the second stranger, only slightly shorter - he looked older and his hair was to his shoulders and he was dressed in a tunic of some sort, he looked angrier. He must have been in the closed coffin then.

Annalise smiled at them easily. "Oh sorry, you must be the rest of the family. I'm Annalise, ersatz-witch, please call me by anything other than my full name - it's pretentious and I absolutely hate it." Her eyes were warm and inviting behind her glasses as she held her hand out to shake.

The younger grabbed it in a gentle hold and brought it to his lips, expressive eyes staring deep into her own flirtatiously. "Kol, charmed I'm sure, darling."

The smirk on his face widened at the subtle but pretty blush that spread across her face and the multiple scoffs from his siblings at his behaviour. He kept his eyes trained on her as she detached his hand gently, clearing her throat in embarrassment.

"Um...nice to meet you Kol."

Annalise flashed him an awkward smile, and moved her gaze to the older brother; Finn, then, going by the process of elimination. Unlike Kol however, he was clearly not in the mood for conversation. Her lips pressed together but she nodded to herself and moved back towards Nik. Finn words were spoken with such strength it felt as though they hung in the air.

"We have what you fear." His narrow eyes cut deep into Nik's own.

"And did you not hear me the first time? I fear _nothing_." The Hybrid's anger had returned tenfold. Lis watched the exchange warily, ready to intervene if anyone was willing to come to blows. This wasn't like the reunion the night before - it was clear Nik's siblings felt real hate towards him.

"You will when we have that coffin," Elijah's tone was colder than she had heard before. He was on their side as well, then. Shit. 

Nik looked lividly at Elijah's impassive face.

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening had everyone furrowing their brow, looking towards the noise. The sound of slow footsteps carried down the hallway, announcing a woman with long fair hair, dressed in an old-fashioned simple flannel dress. Annalise's eyes narrowed, taking in how Nik gasped in surprise, and how Finn, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol all parted to let her through wordlessly with shocked eyes, and allowed her to walk down the few steps into the dining room.

Lis eyes darted between everyone, trying to assess the woman's level of threat. 

"Mother?" The weak word falls from Rebekah's mouth, stunned.

So, _this_ was Esther? The Original Witch?

Rebekah wasn't spared a glance, no one was; Esther's gaze was trained solely Nik's eyes which were ceremoniously avoiding everyone gaze - Lis saw tears in them. Everyone watched him struggle to keep his countenance as Esther approached, breathing deeply. 

Annalise clenched her hands tighter and stepped back for his privacy, closer to the rest of the family grouped near the stairs. Rebekah grabbed her hand and she held it tightly in a show of silent support.

"Look at me." Esther's cold voice had Klaus forcing himself to look forwards at his mother with visible tears collected in his eyes. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"You're here to kill me." Lis had never heard Nik's voice sound so weak and vulnerable - her eyes narrowed; she wasn't going to let her hurt him. She readied herself for a fight.

Esther smiled lightly. "Niklaus, you are my _son_ and I am here to forgive you."

Esther turned so she was next to Nik, looking at her entire children with pride, and something else Lis couldn't quite decipher in her motherly gaze as she declared her wish. "I want us to be a family again."

A low exhale left her lips and Annalise relaxed slowly, loosening her grip on Rebekah's hand. A small smile was on her lips as she stepped away to give this moving family moment a small semblance of privacy. She was content just witnessing this unorthodox reunion.

Her efforts were for nothing, however, as Esther's gaze suddenly flew to hers.

"Who is _she_?"

Esther was glaring at her with hatred that Annalise hadn't felt in a long time. She smiled weakly, maybe this was a misunderstanding?

"Oh, I'm so sorry I was just letting you guys have your family moment y'know?" She stepped forwards once more, unsurely walking forwards through Elijah and Rebekah, smiling in what she hoped was an open and inviting manner. Lis extended her hand, intending to shake the witch's. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Anna-"

Lis's words were cut off unceremoniously with a choke as Esther's hand shot out inhumanely fast and curled tightly around her neck. Immediately, her hands flew to loosen the bruising grip, her mouth was open as she struggled to breath and her eyes were wide in distress. Nik stepped forwards to help but aborted halfway when Lis's eyes shot to his in reassurance after the initial shock had passed - she wasn't hurt. The rest of the family watched, clearly lost as to what was happening, and whether or not they should intervene.

Above all, though, everyone appeared curious to a degree, wondering as to what this tiny waif of a girl had done to evoke the Original Witch's ire in the 3 seconds that she had noticed her. Rebekah looked worried for her too, ready to help – her hands curling helplessly at her side as she bit her lip in worry staring at her friend.

"Who are you?" Esther hissed in a low voice full of malice, undeterred by the fact that her children could hear her as well as if she was speaking right next to them. "Why are you here? _What_ are you?" Her bottom lip curled over her words - her disgust was very apparent.

Annalise's expression had faded into a blank nonplussed stare - she wasn’t impressed. This spiel was overused and had grown tiring twelve _years_ ago. Her fingers that had clutched Esther's hands in reflex tightened their hold and in a silent show of strength detached them from her neck calmly. The Originals noticed their mother's hands straining in their effort to fight back, and distantly, Lis noticed Finn and Kol's brows furrow.

Nik had said they were the more magically inclined pair in the family - of course they would realise how powerful she was to resist their mother's magic.

Annalise let Esther's hands drop limply to her side before stepping backwards, staring the ancient witch down severely. "If you had let me finish, you would know that my name is Annalise," She crossed her arms, jutting her hip out in a casual manner. Despite her words being coloured with easy-going humour, her eyes were sharp and calculating, greatly contradicting the nature in which she had greeted the siblings, and Esther, only moments before.

Esther was still taken aback. Lis continued. "And as for why I’m here, Nik's been hauling me around for some time now, he considers me useful, and _I_ consider us friends."

All eyes jumped to Nik's, still emotional from the shock of his mother appearing; he looked away wordlessly and shrugged. No one missed the subtle curve of his smile though, and this drove Esther to turn back to Annalise, snarling. "You should _not_ _exist_."

“Neither should anyone else in this room." Lis hissed right back. "Look, I get that you seem like a kill first ask questions _never_ kinda gal - again; like a lot of people in this room - but listen," She stepped closer to Esther, her eyes flashing silver. No one missed that, or the strength she held herself with, and the way she managed to look down on the older witch despite the fact that she was shorter. Most of all, no one missed the way Esther leaned back a minuscule amount.

"I don’t know why you hate me, but it’s obvious that you do. I'm only civil towards you right now because I have way too much respect for your children, for Nik, for Bekah, to hurt their mother. But the _second_ you try to hurt me again; be warned I _will_ defend myself."

Esther’s lips pressed into a thin line before she spat at her in disgust. "How _dare_ an _abomination_ talk to me that way." 

The old witch had found her voice once more, held herself up straighter and glared right back at the smaller girl. Immediately, Esther knew she had hit her where it hurt, even if the girl’s tells were subtle - the corners of the girl's lips and eyes tightened, her calculating gaze had the smallest amount of hurt in it, accompanied by a great deal more of anger. She was too easy to read, and Esther _revelled_ in it.

"Mother-" Nik's voice cut in.

Esther broke her gaze to glance around the room. Nik's eyes were angry too, to a lesser extent, but he acted as though he was personally insulted - it made sense now, their camaraderie - being birds of a feather and all. The rest of her children were still watching, the curiosity in their eyes had given way to a small understanding.

Rebekah's face also showed insult, and Lis found silent support in her friends' expressions as she smirked lightly. "No Nik, it's okay; she's just being honest. I mean, she isn't wrong," Lis's words were airy now, deceptively casual and light as if she was stating a known fact. She shrugged, turned his way and sighed. "Look, this conversation isn’t going anywhere, and I can tell when I'm not wanted - I don't wanna intrude on family time." Her eyes flicked over to the figures standing in the well-lit awning of the room.

Kol was looking at her with a deep intrigued frown, but he smirked as soon as she made eye contact. Lis returned a small smile back at him unconsciously, before turning to Nik. 

"I'll grab my stuff, head over to the Salvatore Boarding house and stay there for a while. I’ll keep an eye on them."

He pursed his lips but nodded - her decision made sense. Lis knew that _he_ knew he could call her over in a heartbeat. Maybe this way Annalise could be beneficial in keeping an eye on those slippery Salvatores and their non-existent wills to live. 

**Nik's POV**

Annalise nodded back at him before waving at Rebekah and Elijah and leaving the room, not even sparing a glance at his mother still glaring daggers at her. He saw his siblings' eyes trail after her too, Kol's looked more interested than the rest. He always was curious about witches.

Nik turned back to focus on his mother, feeling his own eyes narrow into a suspicious glare. "You called me an abomination too once, mother, what changed?" He was wary and sharp once more. There was something wrong about the lack of anger in Esther's face after everything he had done.

"I spent a thousand years forgiving you my dear, but in all that time I've never come across a creature like _her_ ," Esther walked closer to Nik, her voice once more sincere, motherly and insisting. "You mustn’t be around her, she isn't natural - she's not a witch but she has magic, she's not a vampire nor a werewolf, but she is _more_ than a human - I don't know what she is, and that scares me to my _core,_ Niklaus." Her voice was bordering on begging when she finished speaking.

Her declaration hung heavily in the silent room.

Nik was curious now, more so than he had ever been. What exactly was his little friend? Something not even his mother had knowledge of? Until he learns more about her, it sounds like she would be a more worthy ally over adversary then. Best keep her as his friend for the time being - after all, she was undeniably useful.

He outwardly sighed and made a show of agreeing with Esther as it was best to keep her happy for the time being. He heard the front door open and shut down the hallway, signalling Lis’s departure from the mansion. He realised he hoped she was okay.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Esther spread her arms grandly, reaching out to her children.

"Why don't we throw a ball to commemorate this special occasion then, and introduce Mystic Falls to the glory that is the Original Family?"

Nik smirked to himself. Now _this_ was something he could get behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel I should just mention here - this isn't a love triangle fic, those kinda give me hives, lol. But, this fic will have romance in it, fingers-crossed. :)  
> Fun fact, this chapter was finished so quickly because some of it was pre-written; the scene with the family meeting Lis was the first thing I ever wrote after I was inspired to write this fic!


	14. Dangerous Liaisons Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! This is an early update because I won't be updating on Sunday, like usual, since my exams are Monday.  
> Still I'm pretty happy with myself, this is the third chapter I've uploaded this week! I'm spoiling us rotten lol.  
> Not beta-read, sorry for any mistakes!  
> 😉  
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Update - Revised.

Three gentle knocks in quick succession echoed on the time-worn front door of the Salvatore Boarding House, still looking absolutely divine in the dull moonlight. It was honestly such a beautifully built house - not as grand as the Mikaelson Mansion; but Annalise loved it for its rustic simplicity. She couldn't say it enough. Of course, it _was_ massive too, but it wasn't as in-your-face about it. The large wooden door creaked open, only marginally as Damon stood there in the small sliver of the open doorway with a thin smile on his face. Stefan was looking at her curiously from over his brother’s shoulder.

“Annalise. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

She raised an eyebrow at him before looking flicking her eyes significantly at the two duffels on the ground and her backpack, then turning back to him with a sarcastic grin. “Uh…Selling Girl Scout cookies. Anyone looking to buy thin mints?”

Damon rolled his eyes stepping back to close the door, but this had Annalise scrambling forwards to stop him. “Wait, wait. Sorry. It hasn’t been a great night. I had to heal Alaric then _Esther_ appeared along with the rest of the family, and like, bullied me, which was totally _not_ cool, so I made a fuss and left which means I kinda need a place to sleep-”

The Salvatores stepped forward in shock as Damon tugged the door fully open.

“Wait, _you_ healed _Ric_ -”

“Esther? As in the _Original Witch_ Esther was in the magically locked coffin-?”

Annalise held her hand up to stop the two brothers speaking over each other. “Look, I’ll explain everything, I promise. Just, can I stay here for a couple nights? Please?”

Damon raised his eyebrows, smirking as he stepped to the side. “Only because you said please.”

She flashed him a quick grin before picking up her heavy duffels and walking past the brothers, setting the bags down in the foyer. “The magically-locked coffin, huh? And you didn't seem surprised when I mentioned the rest of the family. Looks like you need to catch me up on some things too." She turned to give them a quick awkward smile. "So uh, two questions. Which room is mine? And is the interrogation gonna be held before, or after I go grab some late dinner?”

Damon's smirk crinkled his eyes as they glinted evilly - and Stefan rolled his own, letting out a long-suffering sigh.

-

Annalise had woken up early out of habit, more than anything else, and realised ecstatically that her senses had returned. Her soul bared open to the sensations that greeted her once more - liberated to feel the air light with morning dew, the wind blow through the trees playfully. She hadn't realised just how refreshing the sensation of being blanketed in the surrounding magic was until it was greeting her as enthusiastically as she greeted it.

The only explanation for her renewed sense of vitality was that whatever was blocking her from sensing anything within Mystic Falls, and the coffins by extension, had lifted itself while she had slept. This was probably because the coffins had now all been found – which then begged the question why did it lift only after Esther had risen? Did she have at least some control or sway over the witch spirits?

...Knowing her, she most definitely did.

Currently though, they were all in Elena’s kitchen. Annalise was sitting on the dining table with her legs crossed, eating a bowl of cereal Elena had prepared for her; this was because the Salvatores had no food fit for human consumption apart from alcohol in their house. She didn't think having bourbon for breakfast was productive. Plus, she hadn't gotten drunk since Mindy died; she was really quite proud of herself. 

Damon was leaning against the table next to her, tossing a large baseball between his hands. Stefan was positioned slightly more to the front, bracing on the kitchen island. All of them were watching Elena clean the kitchen after breakfast while recounting her night before. They'd been shocked to learn of her sudden talk with Elijah about the Original Witch, after Rebekah had attacked her.

Honestly, that was slightly better than she expected from Rebekah. After all, Elena _had_ quite literally stabbed her in the back and prevented her going to her first high school dance. Elena received no pity from Annalise there - but she did heal the bruise on the girl's shoulder from being tossed against the car as she entered the kitchen. She pretended she didn't see the brothers catch it, then exchange a significant look as she had made herself comfortable on the kitchen table.

Which brought them to the conversation they were having now. 

“How’s she even alive?” Damon's face twisted into an annoyed scowl as he complained. “Thought her hybrid freak show of a son ripped her heart out a thousand years ago.” Lis nudged him and raised her eyebrows. He shrugged at her bitterly. “What? Aren’t you on our side now?”

Lis snorted between a spoonful of fruitloops. “Hell no. Nik is so much cooler than all of you.”

Damon shoved her shoulder lightly in retaliation, making her yelp in protest. “No! Be careful! My cereal, you _dick.”_ Carefully managing to tilt the bowl to prevent spillage, she balanced it once more on the palm of her hand with a relieved sigh. Three pairs of eyes looked at her in varying forms of amusement and Annalise frowned back at them. "What?" 

Elena shot her a grin, deciding spare her the embarrassment by moving on, answering Damon's earlier question. “I don’t know. I guess she has a couple connections in the witch community.” She braced herself on the island, leaning forwards deep in thought. 

Annalise chuckled sarcastically. “Elena, honey, that’s an understatement of epic proportions. I learnt about this witch bloodline that died in the Viking era, one powerful enough to parallel the Bennett Line. I’m fairly certain this was whatever line Esther comes from since it was Ayanna Bennett – Bonnie’s ancestor – was the one who locked Esther’s body up and preserved it in the first place. She has a network of witch spirits dating back a bit more than a literal _millennium._ Connected doesn’t even _begin_ to describe her. She's like, the poster child for LinkedIn.”

Elena sighed and ran a hand through her neat, pin-straight hair, tiredly rubbing at her eyes. “Yeah well, that makes it worse. Elijah said she wants to live in peace with her family. Including Klaus.”

“She was supposed to be the weapon to help us kill Klaus.” Stefan interjected glumly.

“Yeah, well not anymore, at least according to Elijah.”

Damon glanced at Lis, gesturing at her significantly. “ _Hello_ , why are we even talking about this in front of her? She _works_ for Klaus.”

“I do work for Klaus.” Lis nodded, eyes wide and innocent, a hand up in the air pointing to herself. Damon gestured ' _see even she admits it'_ exaggeratedly in her direction.

Elena rolled her eyes. “We’ve always tried to kill Klaus. It isn’t anything knew. I trust her, Damon. She saved Ric.” 

Damon quieted down, appeased for now. Stefan straightened and started pacing across the kitchen. “That coffin was the only thing stopping Klaus from tearing us to shreds.”

“Anyone else feeling a little _used_ right now?” Damon said, squinting into the distance.

“Look, Elijah promised me that his family wouldn’t hurt any of us,” The doorbell rang, making them all pause before Elena delivered her final statement. “I believe him.”

She left to go open the door.

Damon immediately set his sights on Annalise, still eating her cereal. “What do _you_ think, Hermione? Elijah safe to trust?” Lis scowled annoyed, as he poked her shoulder to get her attention. 

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you even trust _me_ enough to believe me. But, for what it’s worth, Elijah’s a man of his word. His entire family is, actually. I believe, as long as you guys let sleeping lions lie, they won’t come and bite you in the ass. Keep to yourself; you should be fine if you do.”

They all heard Elena open the door, but not greet anyone – silently exchanging furtive glances, they all walked up behind her in the foyer. Lis noticed the young girl was holding a fancy letter sealed with an expensive red wax seal on the front, addressed to Elena in beautiful cursive.

There was something strange about it.

“Wait, Elena,” Elena paused, looking at her while closing the door. “That envelope’s been in contact with magic, I can tell. Careful.” The girl nodded, watching Damon and Stefan move slightly closer, before proceeding to open the letter slowly.

“What is it?” Damon asked when Elena stared at the small card in silent confusion.

“An invitation: 'Please join the Mikaelson family this evening at 7 o’clock for dancing, cocktails and celebration.'”

A concerned frown had creased Stefan's forehead as he leaned closer. “Who the hell are the Mikaelson’s?”

After having learnt the letter was just a harmless invitation, Lis loudly slurped down the last bit of her cereal before answering. “That’s the Original Family – more specifically, the children. Vikings didn’t have surnames; they used their father’s name and the suffix '-son' or '-dottir' depending on whether they were a boy or a girl. The Family must have just chosen 'Mikaelson' to be their surname 'cos it's easier in modern times.”

Damon, Elena and Stefan squinted at her, making her shrug defensively. “What? I looked into old Viking magics as an area of my magic science course – plus, I love history.”

“I do too.” Stefan exchanged grins with her.

Damon raised his eyebrows. “Oh great, there’s another nerd.” He turned back to Elena. “It’s not bad enough they’re moving in, now they want a housewarming gift?”

Elena shrugged before turning the invitation over. “Wait, there’s a note on the back. ' _Elena, I think it’s time we finally meet. Esther_.'”

Damon immediately turned to frown at Lis. “You’re not telling Klaus.”

“You can’t tell me what to do Damon.” They all watched with stunned eyes as she casually waved her hand to gently disappear the bowl from her hands and into the washing rack behind her, cleaned. Her jaw ticked and her arms crossed defensively. “Plus, I don’t think it’s Nik you need to worry about. Doppelgänger blood is an insanely rare, powerful and versatile ingredient witches love to use – hell, Esther used it in the Hybrid curse. She's tried to kill you multiple times just so Nik won’t be able to make more hybrids. It's her you gotta look out for.”

Stefan nodded his head, similar worry reflecting in his eyes while turning to Damon. “I agree, remember what Elijah said at the dinner, Damon? How Esther used the Petrova Doppelganger blood in the ritual to turn the family into vampires too?”

Damon’s lips thinned in thought. A tense silence reigned before Lis broke it. “Look. I’m going to go tell Nik about this, I’m not gonna lie to you. It’s up to you if you want to share information with me in the future, I won’t push you. Trust me or don’t trust me. I don’t care. Just trust that I don’t want to see you guys get hurt. Nik doesn't want Elena getting hurt either, so who knows, maybe you'll get an ally out of this. Let me know if you need any help on your end.”

Elena smiled sadly, but no one made a move to stop her as she disappeared in a blink of silver.

-

As she flashed into foyer of the Mikaelson Manor nervously, startling herself at a surprised squeak from a passing maid. The house was full and bustling - Annalise ducked around people carrying large floral arrangements and classy decorations - even clearing out the large expansive ballroom to her right. So they were really going through with this, weren't they?

Focusing on finding Rebekah's signature, and _loving_ that she had the unimpeded ability to do so once more, Lis made her way to the bustling living area on the first floor. There was an old RnB record playing loudly in the background as she found the family spread out in various areas around the room, with thankfully no sign of Esther. Nik wasn't there either - he was up in his drawing room from what she gathered, but Annalise figured the information she had to tell him could wait as Rebekah happily beckoned her over to where she sat on the sofa getting her nails done.

As Annalise walked over with a warm grin, Kol, looking incredibly sharp, moved to stand in her way, dark eyes shining with mirth as he looked at her up and down. "Here to brave our mother once more, darling?"

"No, no. I'm sorry that was a horrible first impression. I shouldn't have threatened her." Lis shook her head slightly, standing her ground even as he stepped closer making her lean back warily. Her eyes flicked around the room to Finn's hard gaze - yup, she had made a horrible first impression - before they snapped back to Kol as he smirked more wickedly than Nik ever did.

"On the contrary my dear," Kol studied her even closer before finally stepping back, letting Annalise exhale a breath she didn't know she was holding, even as he held her gaze. "You impressed us."

"Kol, don't intimidate my friend and let her pass, please." Rebekah called annoyedly from where she sat, unable to move as her nails were still setting, and the technician started on her other hand. Annalise grabbed this opportunity to shoot Kol a quick awkward smile she felt was more of a grimace, before moving around him to go to Rebekah. As she did, she sent a small smile to Elijah.

“Lijah, morning drinking’s a classic sign of being an alcoholic. Trust me.”

He just tipped his glass at her and humoured her with a small smile. “Good morning Lis.” She ignored Finn ignoring her, and instead moved to sit next to Rebekah, oohing and aahing over her pretty nails. Rebekah was beaming at the attention.

Kol moved back to his position in front of a full-length mirror opposite them, and Annalise tried to ignore how his reflection still smirked at her. Instead, she complimented Rebekah's beautiful hair, slicked back in a high ponytail. And the room fell back into the same bustle. Finn put expensive-looking wrist cuffs on an equally expensive shirt as a tailor adjusted his pant legs. Elijah stood at the fireplace, and Annalise had no doubt he already had multiple impeccably tailored suits in his closet. 

Kol called out to his sister, looking at her through his reflection with a mischievous grin. “Rebekah, tell me how handsome I am.”

“Oh Kol, you know I can’t be compelled.” Annalise hid her sudden snort of laughter in a cough, averting her eyes so that she didn't burst into laughter. It was kinda great to see him knocked down a peg after trying to scare her before. Lis also didn’t miss Finn grin at the joke. Maybe he might not be a total lost cause like Nik said he was after all.

As her gaze returned to Kol, he smirked at her struggle, passing her a quick wink. Annalise realised this was an intimidation tactic in itself, and she winked right back at him. Lis wasn’t going to blush and be made for a fool again; she refused it. The faint surprise in Kol's eyes being replaced by a challenging grin had been worth it.

Just as the room was about to sink back into silence, Nik burst in through the closed divider separating the room from the hallway. He immediately made a beeline in their direction, with an angry glare set on Rebekah. “You went after Elena? What is wrong with you?”

Oh, he hadn't known. Rebekah defensively crossed her arms careful of her nails, pinching her lips together in displeasure. “Here we go.”

“Want another dagger in your heart?”

Lis draped herself over Rebekah in faux grief trying to alleviate the heavy atmosphere. “Dagger? My poor Bekah? Don’t you dare, Nik. I won’t let you.”

Kol's eyes glinted dangerously despite the casual grin he wore as he sat down on the arm of the opposite sofa, watching Nik as he threw his hands up in the air at Lis’s antics. “Again, with the dagger threats? Don’t you have any other tricks?”

“Oh, go back to staring at yourself.” Lis sniggered at Nik’s immediate retort.

Kol didn’t waste any time in retaliating. “And who are you, my father?”

“No, Kol." Nik turned fully toward him, settling him with a hard glare, mouth set heavily in anger. "But you are in _my_ house.”

Annalise's smile fell as Kol stood too - his height matching Nik's, allowing him to stare him down - levity wiped clear of his dark gaze. "Then perhaps we should go outside." 

As the two brothers glared at each other, the tension in the room felt as if it was about to snap and Annalise stiffened warily. If the brothers came to blows, she wouldn't hesitate to help Nik, but she'd heard enough about Kol to make her think twice before engaging him in a fight. Having been around witches often, Annalise didn't doubt that he'd challenge her quite a bit. 

Just as Annalise got ready to climb to her feet, Esther's voice rang out. 

“Enough!” She had appeared in the doorway with her long locks now cut into a suburban mom bob, wearing a beautiful silver day dress. Lis stiffened even further next to Rebekah as Esther's gaze set on her burning with _hate._ Annalise only blinked when Esther moved on to Nik, mouth set into a stern line. 

“Niklaus. Come.”

With one last glare at Kol, Nik followed Esther into the adjoining room, even as Kol turned back to his siblings in a smug grin. 

While the others went back to talking softly, Lis tried to deliberately listen in on their conversation before casting a spying spell silently, hoping the others don't notice her eyes turning silver as she closed them, pretending to rest on Rebekah's shoulder. Immediately, Nik and Esther’s conversation sounded louder in her ears – they were clearly in the middle of discussing something serious, and she stopped herself from feeling guilty. Esther was up to something; this was _for_ Nik. 

“I’ve had a thousand years on the other side to be angry and to heal. I’m here to make sure that this family does the same.”

“I just don’t understand. I killed you, and still you forgive me.”

“It’s been my dream for a thousand years that this family could be as one." Esther insisted. "Forgiveness is not a chore, it’s a gift.” This sentence made Annalise cringe internally; the Original Witch was really laying it on thick. Nik was conspicuously silent after her statement, and Annalise wished she could've gauged his reaction. She was really worried for him.

Esther seemed to want to move on from her previous line of questioning. “Now, who are you bringing to the ball this evening?”

Annalise heard Nik laugh incredulously before replying. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re lucky I’m even going.”

“Well, I wish you would reconsider, it’s going to be a _magical_ evening.”

Yeah, Esther was _definitely_ up to something, no doubt about it.

Annalise watched Nik leave before saying bye to Rebekah lowly, and sneaking around the Original Witch to collect Nik from the parlour. She blipped them into her room with no warning as soon as she grabbed his sleeve, missing a dark pair of eyes catching their departure.

“Lissie, you’re getting on my nerves!”

“Wait, wait. I’m sorry, it was just so fun with so many people around and I was just loving the banter. But that isn’t the point. I’m getting side-tracked. Esther’s up to something, you have to believe me.”

Nik raised a finger to his lips, gesturing to his ear.

Lis waved an arm dismissively. “Yeah, no. Don’t worry about anyone hearing us. This room is spelled to be ‘spy-proof’ back when I was umm…bawling my heart out after Mindy. No one can listen in or mess with my room, magically or otherwise. There’s also an undetectable privacy spell cast on it, and like a bunch of other charms. This room is like a checkpoint if you were in a video game – safe and secure.” She paused, squinting. “After I’ve said all that out loud though, I think I may be a tad paranoid, you’re rubbing off on me.” She glared accusingly at the hybrid who now stared at her amused.

He sat on the end of her bed, leaning forwards in a focused manner. “What makes you think my mother’s up to anything? She’s been a perfect example of what she should have always been in the last 24 hours alone.”

She gestured dramatically at his point. “Exactly! Don’t you think that’s odd? Okay, my dislike towards her might’ve originated from the fact that she choked me and called me an abomination within the first five minutes of meeting me,” Nik tipped his head as if saying ‘ _fair point’._

“But what really convinced me she was planning something, was when I was at Elena’s with the Salvatores this morning.” Nik straightened, gaze narrowing in interest. “Elena received a formal invite to the ball, and on the back of it, Esther personally asked to meet with Elena tonight.”

“She did?”

“Yeah. Look, it might be just a bad feeling. But also, I kinda listened into your conversation with her just now. Sorry not sorry. But do you remember when she said that she’d spent a thousand years healing and forgiving you? Well, what about the fact that literally a couple months ago, she was trying to get you to kill Elena and sabotage your entire plan of creating hybrids, huh? That doesn’t sound like something someone with an entire millennia worth of forgiveness would do. Doesn’t that prove she’s lying, even to a small extent? You’re usually the paranoid one Nik, but I’m telling you. She’s up to something.”

He was quiet for a long moment staring out the window before he looked back at her and nodded, eyes holding more disappointment than anger. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention Lissie. I was wary to believe that she truly had changed. Keep an eye on her if you will.”

Feeling guilty for the discomfort he must be feeling, Annalise sent him a grateful look with an apologetic smile. “Thanks for believing me about this Nik. I really am sorry.”

He just sent her a quick grin before changing the topic. “Do you think I should invite Caroline?” 

A chuckle burst out of her. “Nik, look at you! Yeah, I don’t see why not – she likes dances according to literally everyone. Tyler’s gone apparently, and she also lost her dad last night, so she might enjoy something that takes her mind off things. Then again, don’t annoy her about it if she says no, for the exact reasons above.”

He nodded before looking up at her. “Are you going to be fine keeping an eye on Esther tonight then?”

Annalise clicked her tongue, putting her hands in her pockets and shrugging one shoulder. “It’ll be hard, but doable. I’ll have to hold an invisibility spell the entire night, along with holding a repellent charm so people don’t bump into me conspicuously…”

The hybrid stared at her blankly before he deadpanned. “Or, you could dress up, and go to the ball.”

Lis gaped at him, opening her mouth to retort a couple times silently, before finding her words. “I don’t have a dress, and Esther wouldn’t want me to go.” She countered weakly after a few long seconds. Nik was already shaking his head and pulling her out of the room and down the stairs right back into the busy living room.

“Rebekah, I’ve got a chore for you that you might enjoy.”

“I doubt that’s possible, Nik.” Rebekah drily responded. The rest of the family largely ignored this declaration, save for a couple curious glances at the small woman trying to wrench herself free from the hybrid’s grip by slapping his arm. Her attempts were ignored.

“Oh, don’t say that sister. You don’t even know what I want you to do yet.”

Rebekah rolled her eyes boredly. “Let poor Lissie go Nik, and be on your way.”

“Well that would be counter-productive wouldn’t it? Because then she’s just going to run away, and not let you get her ready for her first ball.”

Lis watched with wide eyes as Rebekah’s face did a complete 180 and turn positively gleeful before bounding up in front of her, grinning widely. “We could do your nails and your beautiful long hair. I even have a good idea on how to do your makeup – you might have to teach me how some of that works, but oh, Lissie, I can’t wait!”

Her heart melted at her friend’s enthusiasm and she ceased her struggling. Smiling at her softly, Annalise realised exactly how much this meant to her friend. “Bekah that honestly sounds wonderful. I can’t wait. Have you chosen your dress yet? Do you want to go shopping and grab something from the boutiques in town?”

As the two girls left the hallway and continued their conversation, excited voices carrying even as they left the house, they missed the contemplative but surprisingly light silence that they left behind.

-

Annalise and Rebekah spent the rest of the afternoon in town – trying on dresses and heels, having facials, snapping goofy photos and buying cosmetics. It was the most fun Annalise had...probably in her entire life. They were currently on the topic of dating, and Rebekah was grilling her. “So, you’ve met no boys you find cute the entire time you were with us? What about past lovers? Exes?”

“I’m telling you Bekah; I’ve never had a “past lover” as you so eloquently put it." Annalise felt a pang of pain in her chest as she remembered. "I’ve just never been able to open up to anyone about everything, you know? And the only guy that you could say I’m even remotely close to right now is Nik.”

Rebekah gasped lowly, her hand over her mouth. “Oh _god._ Don’t tell me you fancy _Nik-”_

Lis snorted in laughter before shoving the Original into a nearby clothes rack. “Oh hell no. He’s not nearly funny enough for me. He’s my friend. Plus, he asked me for advice about a girl this morning. We're like, total bros. It’s awesome.” 

They giggled together before Rebekah grabbed a dress from a nearby rack and held it excitedly in front of Lis. “Oh my god this is absolutely perfect for you! My treat!”

“What no, Bekah, wait. I can’t let you do that- Oi, stop!” She chased the Original around the shop, giggling and whacking her hard when the blonde victoriously showed off her new purchase, along with the beautiful green ballgown with a single off shoulder cuff she had chosen for herself. 

They started heading back to the Mansion slowly, tired from the wonderful day she'd spent. “Hey, Bekah, isn’t there anyone _you_ want to take to the ball?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I’m taking Matt Donovan. I asked him shortly before Nik handed you over to me.” Her smirk was a touch too sharp.

“Wait, _human_ Matt Donovan? He agreed?” Annalise frowned in confusion. 

“Of course, he did.”

Lis delicately chose to ignore the shady grin for now and smile at her friend in genuine happiness. “Honestly, I’m not surprised he said yes, Bekah. Look at you. Anyone in their right mind would.”

Rebekah smiled at her brightly, there was no longer any underlying malice in her expression. “Thanks, Lissie. Truly.” Her grin got brighter. "Your nails next!"

-

Once the pair had reached the mansion, they bundled up to Lis' room, giggling as they dodged between the well-dressed butlers and maids. Rebekah had chosen the large bedroom across the landing to hers, grandly over-looking the front of the house which was big enough to even have a large couch in the lounge area within it. Despite the obvious choice, Rebekah was the one that had decided they should get ready in Lis’ relatively smaller room because of her privacy spell, after making her promise to cast the same spell on her room later. They blasted music, danced around and Lis watched her friend botch her own makeup more times than she could count in her effort to teach her. However, it was getting late now, so Lis took over and completed Rebekah's winged eyeliner and classy contour. Then, while her friend got dressed in her bathroom, Lis quickly rushed her own makeup with familiar strokes.

She loved it when a formal occasion or a party came up in Uni – had loved it when a chance to get done up came around.

Turning around, she quickly shimmied on the dress that Rebekah had bought her, admiring it in her floor-length mirror. It was beautiful – literally the most precious and expensive thing she owned. It was a backless pale gold dress, and shimmered when the light hit it right. The gossamer ballgown had a deep V-neck that was still classy and not too risqué, and the gold complimented her rich coffee complexion, especially at her exposed back. A beautiful detailing of small shimmering sequins spread from her pinched waist down the light flowy skirt, casting subtle flares off light when it reflected every time she shifted.

Annalise was swishing the skirt around watching how the light glanced off her small sequins, when Rebekah opened the bathroom door and stepped into the room in a twirl, showing off her beautiful emerald green body con dress and tall heels with a flourish.

Lis clapped excitedly. “Oh, Bekah, you look gorgeous!”

Picking up her skirt because it was slightly long on her short frame, she ran around the giggling blonde, taking multiple pictures.

“Wait, wait. I want one of those things you showed me with you in that beautiful dress. A- a selfie!” The hyperactive girl was dragged under Rebekah’s arm as they posed together with the widest smiles they could.

“And so, the student becomes the master.” Lissie exclaimed examining the photos closely, wiping an imaginary tear away. She snorted, stumbling a bit as she was promptly shoved away. Nik and Rebekah truly were siblings – being shoved around was starting to become a habit.

Hearing voices downstairs, Annalise promptly walked over to her bed, pulling her shoe box closer to her.

“Quick, put your heels on, everyone’s probably ready by now.”

After she slid her beautiful gold heels on, she retouched her curled thick hair quickly, before turning around and reapplying lipstick on Rebekah.

“All right. Done. Let’s go.”

-

They descended the decorated stairs arm in arm, drawing the attention of the small crowd at the bottom of the stairs who were initially facing away from them. The rest of the family were dressed in crisp suits, and Esther in a classy black gown with a single sleeve cinched by an expensive brooch, welcoming the guests had only just begun to arrive. Nik smirked up at them both as they gracefully descended the stairs.

“Well, don’t you two clean up nice?”

Once they reached the bottom, Rebekah huffed, rolling her eyes. “Is that all Nik? We ‘clean up nice’?”

Esther smiled gently at her daughter, noticeably ignoring Lis on her arm. “You look beautiful Rebekah, come. Welcome the guests with us.” The older woman extended an arm to her daughter, Lis let Rebekah’s arm go in response with an awkward smile and moved a few steps backwards.

“Um, I’m just gonna look around, make sure everything’s fine and running. See you later Bekah, Mikael- _sons._ Esther.”

The finger guns horrible made an unexpectedly mortifying appearance and she turned on her heel immediately, refusing to even spare one glance at Nik, Kol, and Elijah’s amused expressions, and Finn’s understandably blank one.

Without glancing back, she walked as fast as she could out of the foyer, blinking back the moisture that had welled up in her eyes; the same wave of emotion that had her acting out embarrassingly to save face, else she’d end up bawling in front of them.

She was familiar with Esther’s treatment – she just hadn’t experienced it in so long. Esther’s cool indifference paralleled her own mother’s after they had been exiled out of the coven; no matter how hard she had tried to get her attention and _just make her mum look at her,_ her mother had failed to acknowledge her until the day she decided to kill her. This was dredging up memories that _hurt._ She refused to be a barely functioning magic _whatever-she-was_ with _mummy issues._ Her plan was to hide in the kitchen and stay there. Ugh, how was she even supposed to keep an eye on Esther and her stupid scheming when keeping an eye on her made her tear up? 

She was useless. 

A warm hand suddenly gripped her elbow, making her pause and spin quickly into a pair of arms. Her own braced herself against the stranger's arms, only freezing when Kol looked down at her in amusement. Once her brain had caught up to exactly _where_ she was, she detached herself from his arms and took an unsteady step back, startled. 

Kol's hand remained gently on her elbow as she moved away, still steadying her in an action that would seem polite, had it not been for the mischievous grin that watched her. 

“Oh, uh. Hi, Kol. Don’t you need to be at the door welcoming guests in?” Did he have no idea of personal space? He leaned in even closer as if he were studying her, like he had a few hours before. 

“Mother won’t miss me. Besides, you rudely left before I could compliment you. You look stunning, darling.”

Gently detaching his hand from her elbow, she smiled at him cautiously, but softly. “Um, thanks...I think you look great too.” 

He did, and Kol clearly knew he did. His smirk only widened as he stepped closer, but instead of moving back, Annalise stayed her ground. “I’ve got a few questions to ask you, Lissa.”

Lis was nervous, definitely, but she still met his black eyes head on. She didn’t know Kol’s angle, and historically, she had only ever heard pretty bad things. “Oh, uh…Lissa’s a new one. But yeah, sure. Shoot.”

Kol offered her his arm which she automatically hooked her own arm through in reflex, and started to walk along with him. He was leading them to the back lawn – the fountain. “Well, you did tell us to come up with any variation of your name, I happen to think Lissa suits you perfectly.” He straightened with a cocky lift to his brow, as if proud that he'd come up with it on his own.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly; maybe she should give him the benefit of the doubt. He looked away grinning before facing her again, this time more seriously. “I hope you don’t mind, Lissa, but the whole family was filled in on your...let’s say unfortunate, life.” 

Well that certainly wasn’t what she was expecting the conversation to start with. Pursing her lips, she nodded – there was nothing she needed to hide. Kol took this as a signal to continue. “As a former witch, I have to say, I’m intrigued as to what your powers are, and what this magic science you’ve learnt is.”

Oh, was that all? It was a surprisingly harmless question.

Blinking rapidly at him before flashing him a bright grin, she tightened her grip on his arm unconsciously, pulling him over to the fountain and sitting him down on the wide stone rim. He followed along; brow crinkled in confusion at her sudden enthusiasm in contrast to her nervousness from before.

“Oh, I love talking about this. Um, so I guess I’ll start with the easy stuff. Uh...are you familiar with the internet?” At his slow nod, she continued animatedly. “Okay, so right now, the world’s never seemed smaller – we can talk to someone on the other side of the world in less time than a heartbeat, we can share grimoires online, there are entire communities of witches _dedicated_ to combining the art of science and magic – creating explanations and theories as to why magic works in the way it does, it’s all just so amazing. There are entire libraries of books you can have access to – in all different fields of magic – old magics from Ancestral and Divination to newer magics like simple cosmetic charms. The possibilities are _literally endless_.” 

Her eyes were bright with passion, and she might have been grasping his hands too tight, but she could tell from his own wide gaze that he was as fascinated with the thought of modern magic as she was. She squeezed his hands before letting them go, continuing.

“So right now, magic science isn’t widely practiced. It’s long years of theory and training, and most covens still like to practice the old ways that were passed down through generations. In fact, since this is all relatively new, and we _just_ found out how easy it is to rent parts of community colleges, there’s actually only a few people world-wide who have a degree in the field of magic science. I’m the youngest. You could even say I’m somewhat of a prodigy.” She cheekily winked at him.

He leaned closer to her, hanging onto her every word. “So what do you need to do to learn this magic theory?”

Wrinkling her nose, she threw him a lopsided grin. “As cheesy as it sounds, what you need most is an open mind. We basically evaluate and assess spells, curses and potions, like chemistry, or alchemy – some ingredients are constant; like binding agents, some catalysts, and incendiary agents which basically increase the potency and efficacy of a spell by stabilising it. Other ingredients perform differently based on what they’re used in. I can’t go into it in greater detail without completely geeking out about it. But, trust me, it’s fascinating stuff. You just have to open and dedicated to the craft.”

Kol’s frame shifted next to her and she felt him nod. “It does seem fascinating. I’d love to learn too. You seem to know a lot about it.”

Tipping her head to the side, she faltered, sadness creeping heavily into her frame until she markedly slouched. There was a beat until she spoke again. 

“I do know a lot about it, mostly because I felt that I _had_ to. You said Nik told you about me, about how my magic behaves,” glancing at his dark eyes, she smiled sadly. “I studied the theory of any type of magic I could get my hands on; the voodoo, hoodoo, occult – I didn’t care, because I was trying to find out what I _am,_ and _why_ my magic is so different from everyone else’s.” 

Kol’s eyes were curious as they met her own in the bright moonlight, forehead creased in interest. “How exactly _is_ your magic different from everyone else’s darling? I’m afraid Nik wasn’t very clear, apart from saying that you are insanely powerful.”

Scrunching her face at the description, but her mouth twitched. Nik _would_. “Well, that’s one way to put it. Think of it this way. As a former witch, how did it feel when you drew on your magic?”

He furrowed his brow deep in thought, Lis thought she saw a flicker of loss. She was overcome with the urge to smooth the deep crease of his heavy brow as he looked away, and Annalise paused in confusion herself. The though was quickly banished from her mind when he spoke.

“It felt like I was pulling my magic from somewhere, making it do whatever I wanted. It flowed through me – for the lack of a better word.”

She was nodding along with his description. “Yeah, that’s what a lot of witches have told me. See, a witch is basically someone with an inherent connection to nature, plants, the elements and animals. That’s the magic they draw upon. They are servants who keep the balance. There’s always a price if they go too far.”

Kol’s eyes had yet to leave her face and Annalise found for the first time that she broke away first from his intense gaze, running her hand across the surface of the cold-water bubbling in the fountain as she distractedly looked for a way to put her feelings into words. 

“My magic, it isn’t like that. For the lack of the better word, it feels like it’s an extension of me, not something that I can isolate or pinpoint. When I was young, the coven elders said I was evil after they saw me use it, they said that I had Dark magic. For the longest time, I believed them. There was even a period of time where I stopped truly using my magic all together.” She peered back up at him with a sad quirk to her lips. “It was when I was studying magic theory, I realised what Dark magic truly felt like – like tar, and death. It was what I’d felt during my last moments with my parents. My magic doesn’t feel like that – at all.”

“And what does your magic feel like then, darling?” His voice was soft, the softest she had ever heard it. Annalise felt the impulse to answer him. She’d never told anyone before. Lis inhaled deeply and collected her thoughts for a moment before replying. “I feel magic in everything around me – the air, the earth, this water, even the grass under our feet. The light from the moon feels different – as does the light from the sun and stars. Everything feels _bright,_ Kol _._ I feel like I exist _alongside_ nature, not _in_ it. I- just- I can’t explain.”

Kol’s expression fell into one of longing, and she was filled with sadness. She realised that he was exactly like her parents – detached violently from his magic against his will, and desperately trying to fill the hole that it left behind. Sadness overwhelmed her as she gently reached for his hands and took them in hers.

His eyes followed her movements inquisitively. “What are you doing, darling?”

“Maybe I can’t explain it. But maybe I can show you what it feels like, if you’ll let me.”

At his cautious nod of agreement, she closed her eyes and _pushed._

It was as if the world had shifted sideways under their feet as she loosened herself emotionally to feel everything around her. Even though her eyes were closed, she knew what Kol was feeling, and seeing. The stars shined brighter; the shadows of the night seemed warmer. The magic running through them felt like a river of complete calm. The water beside them bubbled happily, the grass whispered beneath their feet and the stone under them _sang_. They felt as light as the breeze blowing _through_ them, not around them. The world felt _comforting_ and _compassionate_. It felt like home.

Lis felt Kol’s hands grip hers tighter, suddenly grounding her, bringing her back to the present.

Exhaling slowly, she tapered the connection off and opened her eyes to see Kol, mere inches from her face, looking at her intensely with a clenched jaw. His gaze seemed raw, and blistered and solemn all at once.

Maybe this had been a bad idea, handing him back a temporary piece of what he had lost.

She was the first to break the silence, clearing her throat and shifting back, standing quickly. “Maybe this was a bad idea. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

He stood too and caught her wrist in a tight grip the next second, stopping her from walking away. She was going to die now, wasn't she? She just _had_ to show one of the more magically inclined Originals her powers - he was going to realise she's a freak, and should never be able to do what she could do, and understandably, kill her. 

Rebekah was going to _murder_ her if she died and wasted all her hard work.

So much for wanting to enjoy her first ball. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who doesn't love a good makeover montage?  
> This chapter was insanely fun to write, and I loved starting to explore Lis's interactions with Kol a little bit. I did try to keep Kol as organic as possible, but I do realise he might come off a bit too nice or OOC; but then again, he does hold magic and witches in high regard, and I'd like to think he'd be so utterly fascinated by someone like Lis with those powers of hers. He needs someone to geek out over magic with him. Doesn't really matter at the end of the day though - I've said it before, I'll say it again: this fic is self-indulgent. Hehe. :)  
> Thanks for reading!!


	15. Dangerous Liaisons Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the relatively long wait of a week after so many quick updates in a row; here's a long chapter for you! :)  
> No Beta, Strong Language  
> Enjoy the chapter
> 
> Update: Revised

Annalise vaguely noted a chilly breeze brush past her bare arms making goosebumps pebble her skin as Kol’s grip tightened on her wrist.

In the dark of the night, his tall frame was backlit by the moon behind him, and she was reminded of the stories she'd heard about this unpredictable Original. His face was cast into shadow, but the bright lights of the Mikaelson Mansion behind her cast flickers on his furrowed brow and firm set to his lips, bordering on a scowl. “No, stop.”

He cleared his throat, looking away for a moment. When he looked back, he was calm and collected - the moisture from his eyes had disappeared, but they were still as bright as dark eyes could be. Kol wet his lips and smirked lightly as he spoke. “Thank you. For showing me. I don’t believe that’s dark magic either.” A cocky smile next; with no little amount of mischief in his expression that only served to make him look even more charming; Lis's heart thudded in fear. Despite his tone having changed to something deceptively lighter, his grip remained unrelentingly tight even as she struggled in it. “Now if you could just do that once more, darling-”

Annalise froze in his hold, frowning at him. “Wait, you don’t think I’m a freak? You aren’t going to run to Esther about how right she was? Call me an abomination?”

Kol shook his head - the gesture came across more condescending than supportive as his smirk widened further. “No, of course not Lissa. But, like I said. Do it again. Now.” Something dark had entered his expression, making a chill run down her spine. She had to manage this carefully.

“Um, this isn’t me refusing,” she kept her voice low and non-confrontational. “Mind telling me why?”

Kol impatiently pulled her closer, grasping both her wrists now, and raised them slightly. His head dipped low as he spoke to her, tone low in his British drawl. “Do it. Let’s just say I want to try something. Hurry now darling, you’re testing my patience.” 

Annalise’s frown cleared as comprehension dawned. “You want to see if you can channel it. I don’t think-”

“ _Now,_ darling.” He hissed, tightening his hold on her – she scowled, nodding. 

“Okay, fine. What will you do if it works?”

His teeth flashed in a sharp smile. “Let’s just say you’ll be seeing a lot more of me.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

Lis swallowed her stupid flash of pity at the tiny quirk of his lips downward, before he tightened his grip further, prompting her.

Annalise flattened her lips grimly as she wordlessly nodded, opening up the connection between them again. However instead of letting herself get caught in the freeing feeling of being at one with something so _immense,_ she studied his expression warily. Kol's face had lit up as her magic flowed through him - clearly revelling the sensation of letting the magic wash over him as he he inhaled deeply. He took a moment, before he opened his eyes once more, smirking at her before raising his hand to a decorative hedge nearby. “ _Incendia.”_

They watched, anticipating the bush bursting into flames...nothing happened. Crickets chirped in the silence his spell offered. Kol's expression fell into a frown as he raised his hand once more, determined and almost desperate for results. “Incendia. _Incendia.”_

Annalise could only watch on in slight pity as the hedge seemed to mock him in its unburnt glory – she winced on his behalf in sympathy as he let go of her wrists in visible frustration and ran a hand through his once carefully groomed hair. “Look, I’m sorry, I told you it might not-”

His composure broke as his dark eyes met hers furiously. “You’re not very _useful_ are you?”

Annalise clenched her jaw, trying not to look as hurt as she felt. She glared right back at him angrily, stepping up with a scowl and poking his chest. “Look, I was doing _you_ a favour, _dickhead_.” He faltered, not having expected her temper. Maybe he wasn't used to people fighting back. Annalise had wanted to give him a chance, dammit, and he was making it _so_ freaking difficult. But this was Nik and Bekah's family. Plus...try as she might, she couldn't get his stupid look of longing he had when she was explaining magic to him. That didn't excuse his behaviour, and her however, and resolve built again. “I get that you are devastated by this – I _do_. But if I wanted someone to make me feel like _shit,_ I would’ve hung out with your mum. Here I was thinking you’d be fun to talk about magic to. Fuck you, Kol.”

Lis scowled at him, swirling around angrily with her heavy skirt swishing around her ankles catching the moonlight, only to halt once more in her tracks as Kol vamp-sped in front of her. Her glare worsened when she realised he was wearing a light grin without a single trace of his earlier anger. “I seem to have upset you darling. My apologies.”

He must have realised that being on her bad side would have put him on Nik and Rebekah's bad sides as well.That wouldn't bode well for him. Or maybe he realised that she might yet be useful to him. Either way, his words were as shallow as his benign smile. She rolled her eyes as she glowered. “You think I’m that naïve? Drop the act, Kol." His smile fell back into his earlier scowl. Annalise picked up her skirt. "Now get out of my way, I have better things to do than entertain you.”

“Right, of course. Nik’s and yours little plan.” Kol chuckled darkly as he sidestepped in front of her once more.

Lis froze. “I don’t know what-”

“I do believe it’s you that needs to stop acting now, Lissa. I saw you spirit Nik away this morning after his little conversation with mother dearest, right before he handed you over to Rebekah. Not to mention when I tried to get into your bedroom to learn more about Nik's little magically-inclined _friend;_ I couldn’t." He stepped closer. "Now, just imagine my surprise when I also realised that I couldn’t hear the pretty little wind chimes you’d hung next to your open window. Mind explaining why you have a privacy spell put up too? What secrets do you hold in that pretty little head of yours?”

He had been progressively nearing Annalise as he spoke lowly, his face was now only inches away, towering over her with a dark smirk as she scowled at him, trying to think of a way out of this that preferably wouldn't end with her losing her life.

“Lissie?” The sense of relief that voice brought had Annalise relaxing her rigid stance immediately. Kol and Annalise turned to see Nik looking between them warily before they narrowed, settling on the man next to her. “My little brother isn’t giving you any grief, is he?”

Annalise looked between the two – Kol was still smirking, but anger had straightened his casual posture. He was clearly readying for a fight - his frustration at her, at her magic, and above all his anger at Nik for staggering him in the first place practically predisposed him to blow. After all, he was the Original known for acting out at the slightest inconvenience. Only, she had no doubt Nik could take his little brother again - after all, he had done so before and that was without the added benefit of being a true Hybrid. This could go very wrong.

Sure, Kol had suddenly been a menace for the last two minutes, but she wanted good vibes at the ball; daggering a Mikaelson, no matter how annoying he was being, would seriously put a damper on everyone's evening. She didn't want to be the reason Nik had to put his family down only a day after he got them back. Plus, she still found the whole concept of 'daggering' barbaric. 

Sighing, Lis moved forwards, drawing Nik’s attention away from his brother. “Relax, Nik. He’s been nothing less than a gentleman.” She gave a slight nod. He pursed his lips, understanding her gesture for what it was – _she_ _had this handled._

Nik searched her gaze for a moment, then nodded before gesturing back to the party, tone now lighter than before. “Come, then, both of you. My dear sister didn’t spend this much effort on you for you to miss the festivities.”

“Then it’s only polite I escort dear _Lissie_ back, I do agree I’ve kept her outside in this chill for long enough.” Kol stepped beside her, offering her his elbow once more – she gave him slight glare of warning before accepting it and grasping his elbow. They walked back into the house behind Nik, now considerably more packed with guests in pressed suits and lavish ball gowns compared to when they had left.

Nik turned to face Lis once they'd reached the hallway, slightly secluded. The throngs of people were just through the door. He spoke lowly, casually. “Esther’s moved upstairs, and I think I spotted the Salvatores arriving just now. It’s why I was looking for you. See if they aren’t hurting Elena with their idiocy please.”

Understanding dawned on Lis’s face as she nodded. This was his way of asking her to keep an eye on the situation with Esther and Elena. Kol lifted a curious eyebrow, clearly suspecting something underlying was happening. It appears being sharp and suspicious was a Mikaelson family trait. “What’s going on brother?”

Nik wordlessly nodded at Lis, ignoring Kol as he turned on his heel, walking in the opposite direction to where they needed to head.

Grabbing an annoyed Kol’s arm, she dragged them through the rooms in the direction of the front foyer. He was still scowling, clearly angry at being so obviously snubbed by his brother. “This connected to your little secret, is it? What? Aren’t you going to tell me it isn’t any of my business?”

Lis’s tall heels allowed her to use his arm to push herself up to discretely whisper in his ear as they walked past a bunch of smiling mortal townspeople. “Shush. It's need to know. Something shifty is going on right now though. No one else but Nik knows, so don’t be so obvious.”

He smirked down at her. “Is dear old Nik being distrustful again?”

She exhaled sharply before scowling lightly at him. “No, this is _my_ hunch.”

Kol smirked widely. “Ah, so it’s a case of the paranoid leading the paranoid then?” She discreetly whacked him on the arm, making him chuckle.

Rounding the corner, she found Damon talking to a beautiful middle-aged woman. At Lis’s subtle pause of indecisiveness, Kol seamlessly took the lead as Damon glared at her for having an arm linked with Kol’s. She raised a brow in a sassily. Sure her company was currently questionable, but she didn't need his judgement. They weren't friends just because they had breakfast. Her eyes drifted to the warily smiling woman. 

It seemed Kol knew who she was. “Mayor Lockwood.” Oh. This was Tyler’s mom. She watched, internally amused when Kol brought Mrs. Lockwood’s hand to his lips, smiling charmingly – an imitation of how he had first greeted her. “We haven’t formally met. This is Annalise Caelis, and I’m Kol Mikaelson. We hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it.”

The mayor glanced at her in silent recognition when her name was mentioned, sharing a gracious smile that wasn't as forced with her before turning back to Kol and nodding politely.

Damon was clearly annoyed at Kol selectively ignoring him, so he offered his own hand to the Original. “Damon Salvatore. Have we met?” His gaze was almost daring. Daring Kol to act out, or to show everyone that Damon wasn't someone to be ignored. Lis and Carol exchanged a glance, the latter smiled when Annalise quirked an eyebrow and rolled her eyes in response to the two posturing men.

Kol squinted at Damon, before smiling, politely detached. “I’ve met a lot of people, and you don’t particularly stand out.” 

Lis had to lift a hand to her mouth to stifle the sudden huff of laughter, making Kol grin quickly down at her while starting to walk the both of them away from Damon and Mayor Lockwood. Looks like Kol did indeed seem to have perfected the art of being a dick over the years. She waved at them slightly as they moved past them, a movement Mayor Lockwood received with a small nod, but Damon rolled his at her eyes sourly. 

Kol lifted a brow when they were far enough away - his cheeky smirk said it all. She rolled her eyes in response. “You threatened me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find you funny. It just makes you bearable.”

He smirked wider. “Maybe you’re warming up to me.”

“Yeah, you mean after you man-handled me and tried to take advantage of my magic?” Lis stopped them in their tracks. Her sarcastic smile dimmed as she turned to face Kol seriously. “Look, I get it. Losing your magic sucks. I was genuinely enjoying your company before you pulled that little stunt. I’m hoping you see sense and realise that it’s far better being in my good books than my bad.”

Kol chuckled, looking around the crowd before leaning slightly to whisper in her ear. “See, darling, I find it hard to believe you have a bad side. You weren’t exactly forthcoming with Nik about what I did after all.”

Lis crossed her arms and exhaled lowly. “Yeah, okay. I admit I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stop him from daggering you – it honestly sounds quite horrible.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “But the more _shit_ you pull? I might find it harder to give a damn.” She stepped backwards as Kol raised an amused eyebrow, but she was distracted when her eye caught Esther mingling and laughing in the crowd in her periphery. “Like I said, I have bigger things to worry about than you acting out, and it _might_ just concern you, so I’m gonna need you to get your act together and work with me, if only for tonight.”

Kol followed her gaze, noting how it lingered on his mother. Annalise turned back to see his eyes narrow, visibly thinking about it for a moment, before coming to a conclusion. He grinned at her cheerfully. “Okay, darling. You’ve made your case. You have my cooperation for tonight.” Effortlessly grabbing two champagne flutes off a tray of a passing waiter, he held it out to her, symbolically offering a truce. Lis accepted hers with a small nod, before she looked towards Damon again. He was clearly caught off guard by something that he couldn’t seem to draw his eyes away from.

She followed his eyeline towards the front door to find Elena stepping through it grandly, dressed in a beautiful black and bronze dress, with her hair curled and pulled to one side, scowling at Stefan who had appeared next to her. She nudged Kol, who quickly followed her line of sight and whistled lowly when Elena walked further into the room with an arm through each of the Salvatore brothers after a heated discussion. “And the allure of the Petrova doppelganger continues.”

Lis nudged him. “Hey, that’s mean.”

Kol raised his chin, passing her a mocking grin. “So, you wouldn’t mind a man on each arm then? Stringing each one along?”

She shook her head, eyes trailing after the trio. “That’s not what I meant. I just mean you don't know her, or her situation. It isn’t my business, nor is it yours. Now shush. Can you see Esther anywhere?” The older witch had disappeared from where Annalise had seen her last.

She used his shoulder absent-mindedly to raise herself higher on her tip toes to look over people’s shoulders. Kol smirked amusedly at her struggling. “You’re really short, aren’t you?”

Lis narrowed her eyes at him before elbowing him lightly in his gut. He chuckled before glancing around subtly. “Here, I don’t see her, but I do see Nik talking to a lovely bird in blue.” Lis peered over to where he gestured and smiled.

“Oh, that’s Caroline. She’s so sweet. Well, that's what I’ve heard...I put her to sleep the only time I met her, so I haven’t really talked to her yet.” Lis grimaced before turning back to see her new possible acquaintance look distractedly in a different direction. Kol looked impressed before he sipped at his champagne, his wandering gaze froze, and his eyes narrowed in curiosity.

“Wait, why is Finn talking to the doppelganger?” Kol’s sharp tone had Lis looking over to watch the quietest Mikaelson converse with Elena. 

"Is that not normal?"

"No. Finn hates everyone."

Lis' eyes narrowed suspiciously at the pair as they continued to talk, looking all too casual. Finn's face remained stern, and Elena seemed...nervous? “Kol, this is going to sound strange but...is Finn close with your mother by any chance? More than the rest of your family?”

Kol furrowed his brow. “He is unquestionably mother’s absolute favourite. Hates being a vampire...why do you ask? What aren’t you telling me Lissa?”

Hates being a vampire...would he hate it to the point of sabotaging his family? If he was then...Lis' breath caught. Finn was probably in on whatever Esther was planning with Elena. Kol still looked confused as Lis started heading worriedly in Elena's direction. He caught her arm once more, pulling her back.

“Darling, what’s going on?”

-

“If everyone could gather around, please.” Elijah’s voice echoed across the ball room, interrupting Lis who was just about to explain the situation in detail to Kol. The Original nodded at her, promising to come talk later and made his way through the crowd and up the stairs, posing with the rest of his family. The family looked powerful - regal, with perfect posture and chins tilted slightly upwards as Elijah continued with his speech now that the crowd had huddled closer to the stairs.

“You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this,” he gestured at Esther gracefully descending the stairs, “It is tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance.” Lis distractedly noticed the two Salvatores and Elena in the crowd look up at Esther before whispering to each other lowly. Elijah’s speech continued. “Tonight’s pick is a centuries-old waltz. So, if you could all find yourself a partner, please. Join us in the ballroom.”

Lis was still focused Elena; how the girl had moved to follow Esther up the stairs but was immediately blocked by Damon, engaging in a brief argument before Damon offered her a hand to dance.It seemed Elena wanted to meet Esther, but Damon wasn't having it. Good. She was hoping he would be enough to dissuade Elena from ever meeting the stern witch.

A hand waved in front of Lis’s eyes drawing her attention towards a Kol. He was smirking charmingly, eyes burning into her own as his hand extended in her direction politely. “My lady, may I have this dance?”

“Sure, Kol," She smiled back slightly, hoping her face didn't outwardly redden as she took his hand, allowing him to lead them to the circle of pairs in the centre of the ballroom. "As long as you don't act like an arse again.” 

They took their place in the two lines of couples, joined both hands, one in front and one behind them. This positioned Annalise close to Kol, shoulders touching as his grip unconsciously flexed her hands. She did her best to focus on something else, and smiled at the song that filtered through the room. Kol's voice whispered in her ear as they started moving slowly. “It was unbecoming of me, wasn’t it?” 

“You said it.” She grinned at him and shrugged as they moved forwards, turning to face the line opposite them together then seamlessly switching sides.

“You dance well.”

Lis chuckled, felling strangely light as Rebekah passed her a quick smile when they glimpsed each other. “You seem surprised.” She gave him a quick grin as they turned towards each other, her twirling under his arm and into his hold before starting waltzing gently. She smiled at him widely, . “You know, you are completely justified in being surprised though. Thank god Bekah taught me how to waltz while we were getting ready this afternoon, otherwise your feet would be destroyed by now.”

“Somehow, I don’t doubt that darling.” She huffed, shooting him a playful glare as he spun her around to her next partner.

The rigid hold she twirled into was accompanied by a serious gaze that made her freeze in her shoes and almost stumble. “Oh, uh…Finn. How are you?”

The oldest Original vampire's mouth set into a narrow disapproving frown, eerily similar to his mother. Esther's favourite child indeed. He clearly doesn't do small talk either. Annalise looked to the side awkwardly as they twirled. 

His frown still sat heavy on his face after a few minutes, and Annalise sighed in frustration. “You have questions. Ask away.”

“What are you?”

Lis let out a low startled laugh before smiling forlornly. “Out of everything, you asked the one question that's haunted me my entire life." She shook her head bitterly. "One day then, Finn. I promise, you’ll be the first to know.” She smiled sarcastically before letting her gaze wander around the ballroom again.

Her lips involuntarily curled into an amused smile when she saw Kol was making eyes at a poor girl - she had no doubt he'd broken his fair share of hearts, metaphorically in this case. He had a way of making his stare burn, making you feel as though all his attention was just focused on you. She herself would've fallen for it, had it not been the fact that she'd known it was all a front. He wasn't interested in her, just in her powers.

Annalise found that honesty...refreshing. She no longer had to lie and be lied to like she had in the past. Her eyes drifted to Rebekah, now dancing with Damon - each unsurprisingly looking away towards the partners they had begun the dance with – Rebekah at Matt and Damon at – _Wait, where the hell was Elena?_

She moved to twist them around, but Finn’s hand tightened on her waist halting her movement, and it took all she had not to let her eyes trail after Damon. Instead she met Finn's glare, narrowed in suspicion. “Are you…looking for someone?”

Lis stuttered. “Oh, um…n- no. I was just wondering where Bekah was, y’know? I haven’t seen her since this thing started.” 

The next few minutes until the song ended moved painfully slow, she was wincing internally the whole time. Lis hoped her awkward lie didn't tip Finn off and she couldn’t help the grateful sigh that escaped her as the dance finally ended and she curtsied lightly. “Thank you for the dance, Finn.”

A nod was all she received in return as he disappeared quickly into the crowd.

Gathering herself, she moved to the nearby table with champagne flutes gaze lingering on the drinks before hardening, and making her way through the crowds to the foyer. As she had lost Elena, the staircase was the perfect place to watch for her. Seeing Kol and Rebekah chatting at another table, Lis was about to approach them but was distracted as Stefan and Elena made their way up the staircase. Picking up her skirts to follow them up, she cast a little invisibility charm. She watched as the pair enter the small office on the second floor, followed closely behind by Damon. Wincing from second-hand pain as Damon’s neck was efficiently snapped by Stefan, she followed Elena further down the hallway, pausing in surprise as Elijah caught up to the young girl and started speaking to her, lowly.

She wondered for a short moment if Elijah was in on whatever Esther was planning.

Moving closer to the quietly conversing pair, Annalise guiltlessly eavesdropped as Elijah spoke. “...It has me asking questions I never thought I’d ask. Can I depend on you to tell me what she says?”

Elena nodded slowly despite clearly hesitating in her answer. “Of course. I’ll find you later, okay?”

She walked past Elijah down to what she presumed was Esther’s wing beyond. This was good - Elijah wasn't with Esther, he had doubts too. Lis walked up next to Elijah and dispelled her charm. Elijah startled slightly as he registered her next to him. “Lis?”

“Lijah, you think something’s up too, right?” He squinted at her before nodding. She sent him a sad smile. “I told my suspicions to Nik this morning. He asked me to keep an eye out. I sincerely do hope we’re wrong though, and your mother has nothing but good intentions.”

Elijah smiled at her, dropping it quickly when he saw her frowning in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

Lis chewed on the inside of her cheek unsurely, gazing off in the same direction that Elena had walked in. “It feels like someone powerful just performed a spell. Guessing it’s your mother from her bright magic signature, but it might just be because she’s having a private heart-to-heart?”

Elijah’s face fell, and Lis sighed in disappointment at how weak her excuse sounded. “Look, Elijah.” The man looked at her with solemn eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you guys safe, from whatever she’s planning. I promise.”

-

It was a short while later and Lis and Elijah had moved down to the bottom floor once more. She hadn’t been able to spot, Nik, Rebekah or Kol, and she certainly wasn’t itching to talk with Finn again, so she had been talking with Elijah the entire time. He had really opened up when she had told him about the few magical institutions across the world, he found it utterly fascinating. He had offhandedly mentioned a select secret society that he'd founded, and that she would probably be a wonderful addition. 

Currently, she was explaining the intricacies of various enchanted woods and the properties each had; Elijah had offered up the topic by talking about the ways in which they could be killed – which lead to them talking about the magical properties of the extinct white oak – when Elijah lifted a polite hand to pause her.

“Elena’s back.” Silently, both of them moved to stand alongside Elena, Elijah on her left and Lis on her right.

“Hi, Elena, how are you going?” Annalise passed the startled girl an easy smile.

Elijah got straight to the point. “So how was my mother?”

Elena thought for a moment before replying. “Intense.”

“And for what reason did she need to speak with you in private?” Elijah grabbed two glasses of what looked like red champagne and handed it to the two girls before taking one for himself. Lis frowned down at the glass in her hands, the weight of it drawing her attention. Her fingers tightened an uncomfortable amount around the flute, feeling her throat suddenly dry, but frowned when she suddenly sensed the tiniest magical signature emanating from it. She looked up distracted, when Elijah’s tone became more insistent. “Should I be more concerned about my mother’s intentions?”

Elena was completely facing Elijah now, with her back to Lis, so she didn’t see the young woman adjust her glasses while looking at Elena and the champagne in her glass in confusion. The magical signature coming off the champagne was barely there, but it felt like Elena. Maybe this is just because she’s standing right next to her? She concentrated on the small amount of magic definitely coming from her champagne flute once more.

Yeah…no, something was definitely going on – and it isn’t just the fact that she'd never seen red champagne before in her entire life.

Esther clinked her glass, standing on high on the grand staircase once more, drawing the crowd’s attention. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy, than to see my family, back together as one. I’d like to thank you all for being a part of this _spectacular_ evening.” Esther raised her glass with a smile, eyes glimmering almost victoriously. “Cheers.”

The crowd echoed the sentiment and sipped the champagne, but Annalise made no movement to do so. She heard Elijah turn to Elena to mimic the sentiment. “Cheers.”

“Wait.” Lis held her hand out making the pair pause, the flutes already to their lips. She moved closer over to Elena and Elijah. “Guys don’t drink the champagne. Something’s wrong with it.”

Elijah frowned at her while Elena let out a nervous laugh. “I’m sure nothing’s wrong with it Lissie, everyone else is fine. Come on, it’s rude if we don’t drink.”

She stopped Elena drinking from her glass once more, touching her shoulder gently. “No don’t. Look, Elena, go find Stefan and Damon. We’ll figure it out, okay? I’ll let you know when we know more.”

As Elena left looking slightly panicked, she moved closer to Elijah watching Esther narrow her eyes at the pair of them from the top of the stairs. She hissed at him under her breath with the glass covering her mouth “Quick, she’s looking, pretend to drink.”

Elijah looked at her with worried eyes. “Too late Lis. I'm afraid I've already drank it.”

“ _Shit._ Okay, follow me.” She took Elijah’s champagne from him and put both of them down on the table behind them before grabbing his arm and walking casually fast as she could towards the kitchens. Waiters passed them by with more of that red champagne. Once they got to the busy kitchen, she made her way over past the workers and over to the compelled head caterer in charge. He was pouring more from a bottle into empty glasses. “Hi.” The waiter paused, looking up.

“Can I help you miss? Sir?”

Elijah came up next to her while she continued questioning the waiter. “That red champagne you’re pouring was absolutely divine.” She reached out to flirtatiously touch his arm. The waiter smiled and continued to pour. “It was so divine, in fact, that I just _had_ to know if I could grab a bottle off you.”

“Ah Miss. The red champagne is one of France’s best kept secrets made from Pinot Noir Grapes in the Marne Valley. This taste of red is called the ‘Coteaux Champenois’. I highly recommend it Miss – though I’m afraid we are currently running out.” He flashed her an apologetic smile and shook the nearly empty glass bottle to show her.

She dismissed it with a smile and a wave of her hand. “No, no. That’s okay. I was hoping for an unopened bottle anyway.”

The waiter raised his brows and shrugged. “I definitely can’t help you there Miss, the champagne came in a crate this afternoon, and just ten minutes prior the hostess and one of her sons came downstairs and told us to open all the bottles. I’m afraid no bottle was left unopened.”

After stepping back and thanking the waiter, she exchanged an uneasy glance with Elijah before nodding at him. This wasn't looking good. “I’m going to go find Nik. I’m assuming all of them drank it. We can’t let Esther know that we know.”

Elijah nodded. “I’ll go find Kol and Rebekah then. Thank you, Lis.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when I figure out what exactly Esther’s up to with spiked champagne." She shook her head, scowling severely. "I should have caught on sooner, _dammit.”_

Elijah’s hand gripped her shoulder and his eyes peered gravely into hers. “Don’t blame yourself for this Lis. I have utmost faith in you.”

Lis flashed him a grateful smile before pinpointing Nik’s distinct hybrid signature in the drawing room on the far side of the house near his room, with someone who felt like a vampire. Probably Caroline, as it seemed vaguely familiar.She rushed off in his direction and soon came upon the room in question, smiling. She had ventured up here on occasion while the house was still being renovated, and spent many hours just appreciating the Nik’s drawings. If he brought Caroline up here, he must be getting pretty serious about her.

She walked closer to the open door, unsure of whether she should intrude or not. Voices carried out into the empty hallway.

“Then why do you need Tyler? Stop controlling him. Give him his life back.” Lis was right, it _was_ Caroline talking to Nik, but they were having a very different conversation as to what she was imagining. 

“You know, this has been a fun evening, but I think it’s time for you to leave.” Nik’s voice sounded serious, borderline angry. She stepped into the room – Caroline had her back to Lis, but the hybrid noticed her immediately.

Caroline clearly didn’t realise, so she kept talking. “I get it. Your father didn’t love you so you assume no one else will either. And that’s why you compel people, or you sire them, or you try to buy them off-” Caroline’s voice had been steadily increasing in volume ignoring how Nik’s face fell blank at her comments as she ripped off the bracelet that he had gifted her throwing it to the ground. “but that’s not how it works. You don’t connect with people, because you don’t even try to understand them.”

That was enough.

“We haven’t had the pleasure to meet officially yet, though now I feel considerably less guilty about that time I put you to sleep in the school corridors.” Lis chose that moment to speak up, her voice was cold but polite. Caroline whipped around in surprise. “Everyone told me you were a kind person; what you just said suggests, however; that you're kinda ignorant.”

Caroline gaped before moving forwards. “Well, no I didn’t mean that in a bad way-”

Lis held her hand up. “Oh, sorry. Did you mean to say that ‘Nik compels people because he can’t connect with them’ in a _good way?_ Look, you clearly don’t have all the information, so I agree with Nik. I think you should leave now.”

She moved to the side as Caroline rushed past her with an insulted huff. Nik looked away in irritation as Lis walked over, closer to him. “I had it handled.”

She gave him a cheeky grin. “I know. I was just feeling insulted on your behalf. I had to defend your honour, young damsel, just like you tried to help me with Kol earlier.” Nik sighed, looking away exasperatedly and shaking his head, before focusing back on her at her suddenly serious tone. “But hey, Nik. That’s not why I came here to find you. I made a mistake.”

He walked closer in worry as her expression crumpled into one of regret. “I think Esther messed with the red champagne she passed around at her toast just before. I felt something strange about it, but before I could figure out exactly what it was, everyone was drinking it. I didn’t even manage to stop Elijah in time, and he was _right_ next to me.”

His eyes had widened. “I drank it. So did Kol, and Rebekah. Everyone did.”

Lis brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose under her glasses letting out a stressful sigh. She took a moment to think things through and calm her rapidly panicking mind. 

“Okay, it’s gonna be okay. Esther also drank it so hopefully it means that the mortals in the ball will all be fine – she’s smart enough _not_ to poison _everyone_ at the ball. So that leaves vampires – all witches _hate_ vampires, but if we assume that Elena did in fact, lie straight to both Elijah and my faces when she said that all Esther wanted to do was apologise for trying to _kill_ her - we can also assume she didn’t do anything to knowingly put Stefan or Damon in danger. That narrows it down to _just_ your family. Victims check. Motive check. Means check. Opportunity check. I’m just not sure how Finn factors in because he knew the drinks were spiked, but he drank it anyway. I’m so confused.”

Nik had been pacing the entire time she’d been talking out her thought process, nodding at certain point which he agreed with. His eyes were angry, but calm. He was strategizing.

“Okay, Lissa, I’ll work on this from my end with Elijah. I need you to figure out whatever you can from the Salvatores and Elena.” Lis nodded determinedly before swishing around to leave the room. “Wait, Lissie.” She paused, looking back at him. “Thank you, for looking out for my brother, for me, for all of us.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, Nik.” She sent him a sad smile before waving her goodbye and leaving the room.

She was about to wander down once more to the ballroom when she saw Kol suspiciously standing at the grand second floor open terrace opposite the double staircase. She squinted, walking over faster as Matt stepped out on to it, apparently not noticing Kol yet. She had a bad feeling about this.

Annalise reached the terrace just as Matt turned back in her direction after looking around what he perceived to be an empty balcony. “Hey Matt, what are you doing out here?”

Matt looked around as if he was confused. “I don’t know. I guess I thought I heard someone calling my name.”

She smiled at him and took the arm her offered to help her climb the high step on to the open balcony. She saw Kol appear behind Matt with a dangerous smirk. As Matt whipped around startled, Lis slowly stepped closer to Kol, so she was to the side but still between the two boys. The fact that Kol's eyes hadn’t moved from Matt’s worried her.

“Good evening. Human, how interesting. Wonder why you’re currently with Lissa, considering the fact that you are here as Rebekah’s date.”

Matt nodded unsurely and offered Kol a hand to shake. “Matt Donovan, and uh...I just bumped into her?”

Kol grasped it firmly. “Kol Mikaelson.”

The harmless nature of the gesture turned threatening and Lis gasped in shock as Kol’s grip on Matt’s had didn’t loosen, but instead tightened to the point where she heard bones cracking and Matt’s expression crumpled in pain. She reached out trying to loosen Kol’s grip, simultaneously hitting his chest. “Kol, _what the fuck,_ let him go!”

As Matt collapsed to the ground in pain when Kol let go, Damon blurred up behind the blond boy on the ground. “Hey, hey, hey. Easy on the hand.” Lis paused watching in fear as Kol turned his terrifying glare on an unaffected but slightly unhinged looking Damon. He was almost looking for a fight. “The guy’s a quarterback.”

Lis scowled next to the Original. “Kol, Damon, stop this stupid pissing contest-”

Kol shoved Lis to the side just as Damon growled and lunged forwards to throw Kol over the stone railing and onto the paving far below, before promptly vaulting over the stone railing himself. Scrambling back to her feet after Kol's shove, Lis gripped on to the banister with white knuckles and watched Damon start pummelling Kol’s face into the ground, then viciously crack the Original’s neck. Kol's unconscious head hit the ground with a dull thud, and she watched grimly Damon stood over the body, heaving.

She heard the commotion downstairs as a crowd assembled at the double doors to watch Damon. Stefan’s voice rang out from under her balcony, calling out his brother’s name. “Are you crazy?”

She saw the heads of Nik, Elijah and Finn also appear, along with Elena.

“Maybe a little. Far be it for me to cause a problem.” Damon blithely answered, then walked away into the night. What on earth was happening now?

Matt’s groaning from behind her made her fall to the ground quickly beside the teenager, who was holding his right hand in agony. Lis gently reached out to the injured hand, making sure her movements were slow and confident to help alleviate the pained and panicked look in Matt’s eyes. “Shh, it’s okay, Matt. You’ve seen me heal Alaric before, remember? It’ll be completely painless and healed in a minute.”

At his tight, pained nod, she gently placed a couple fingers on the broken hand, ignoring the wince of pain on the boy’s face, and willed the fractured bones to heal. “ _Sana.”_ A small gentle light glowed dully from his hand, enveloping it for a second, before vanishing all together. After a moment, Matt brought his hand up to his face to examine it with a confused smile, before clenching and unclenching it to see if any pain remained.

“Uh…thanks, Lissie. Good as new.”

She smiled back at him as she stood up slowly, helping him up. “No worries Matt. But you best get going. I’ll smooth things over on this end.”

He flashed her a thankful grin and helped her step down from the terrace, before leaving her to make his way down the stairs quickly.

-

The ball emptied out quite soon after the sudden fight as Lis descended the stairs, watching the Original brothers carry Kol into the study on the first floor. She entered the room just as they finished stretching Kol out on the sofa. Kol almost looked peaceful, were it not for his ruffled appearance.

Nik walked back out past her, muttering a quick excuse to her about having to finish a drawing, and Finn and Elijah left to bid farewell to the remaining guests with Esther. Annalise didn’t know where Rebekah had disappeared to, but she wasn't too worried. Annalise was left alone in the room with a lifeless Kol, so she sighed and sat gently on the ground in front of him, making sure not to damage the lovely skirt of her dress, before casting a silencing spell on the room.

Laying her small hand across his forehead, she whispered. “ _Surgo.”_

Startling back as Kol violently woke and sat up with a loud gasp, she paused before standing up quickly to put both of her hands on his shoulders, making him focus on her. “Hey, hey, you're fine. Damon snapped your neck, and I just woke you up.”

Kol growled in renewed anger and went to stand up again, teeth bared in a snarl. “I’m going to _kill_ him.”

Lis rolled her eyes and pushed back lightly against his chest. “Don’t. We’ve got bigger things to worry about that him.”

He narrowed his eyes at her serious expression and stopped pushing against her to stand up, while his hand came up to rub at his neck. “You’ve been saying that all night. _What_ is it?”

“Did you happen to drink the red champagne during Esther’s toast tonight?” She sat down on the edge of the couch. He nodded, looking concerned for himself. “There was something wrong with it. It carried its own magical essence. Now alcohol doesn’t usually carry its own signature which is why I found it suspicious. Sadly, I was too late to stop _anyone_ from drinking it. We looked into it further – turns out, Finn and Esther laced it with a magical ingredient of some sort.”

Kol stiffened before pointing to his ear, making Lis huff out a laugh. “I wasn’t born yesterday Kol. I placed an undetectable privacy spell on this room before I woke you up.”

He smirked in approval, before his brow furrowed. “Why would Mother lace our drinks?”

“I don’t know. If I knew what she laced it with, maybe I could wager a guess, but as of right now, I have no clue. Nik and Elijah are going to be investigating this from here, and I’ll be looking for information at the Salvatores. I wanted to tell you and Bekah before I left, but I couldn’t find her. We knew that Esther was planning something, we just didn’t know what – that’s what I wanted to tell you earlier at the ball.”

He nodded again, eyes drifting over her shoulder, deep in thought while rubbing at his neck again. As she shifted, his dark gaze snapped back to her, giving her an almost considering look. “Thank you for filling me in.”

“No worries Kol.” Lis tilted her head, studying him closely, “Your neck hurts from being broken, doesn’t it? Do you want me to take the soreness away?”

Kol squinted at her before nodding hesitantly. 

Annalise leaned in to gently place her hand on the left side of his neck where he was just rubbing, right under his ear, delicately ignoring how it felt for her thumb to lightly brush against the underside of his jaw. Gathering her focus - which seemed a bit harder than usual for some reason – she focused on sending a small pulse of warm healing magic into his neck. She removed her hand as soon as she was done, ignoring his unreadable gaze before he stretched his neck, sighing in relief. “Thank you once again, darling.”

She sent him an awkward smile, “No problem-o. Really not necessary. It’s the least I could do.”

Kol paused. “What do you mean?” His dark eyes narrowed.

“I mean, that’s thanks for pushing me out of the way when Damon pushed you off the balcony. You were an idiot for hurting Matt in the first place, but like, now I think you’re an okay idiot. And uh...you're forgiven for what you tried to do earlier. Second chance and all that, considering you kinda saved my life.” She shrugged, looking away.

The double doors opened before Kol could retort, drawing their attention to Nik walking in. He paused as he realised Kol was awake, but continued around to Lis, handing her a familiar jewellery box with a white ribbon.

She raised a brow. “Okay...I say this with complete love, but you don’t know when to give up, man. I don’t think you understood her little rant.”

Nik huffed rolling his eyes upwards, leaning against the table opposite them. “Be assured that I have plenty of experience under my belt Lissie, put that on her bed.”

She grinned cheekily and waggled her eyebrows at him. “Oo~ under your belt huh? _And_ on the _bed_ this time." She let out a scandalised gasp. "What could that mean? What’s _in_ this Nik?”

“ _Lissie.”_

“Oh, fine, fine you grump. Here you go.” She shut her eyes. “ _Volo abire ad locum._ ”

When Annalise opened her eyes, she noticed Kol had shifted closer to her in interest, gaze trained on where the jewellery box had just disappeared.

She opened her mouth to comment when the double doors opened once more, revealing a troubled-looking Elijah. “Elijah, what’s wrong?”

Elijah motioned for her to be quiet and shut the doors behind him gently. Kol and Nik sat up straighter at their older brother’s strange behaviour.

“Speak freely Elijah. There’s a silencing charm placed on the room.” He raised a brow at Lis’s comment but nodded, walking towards her.

“Lis, you are well-versed in the art of witchcraft. What does the smell of burnt sage mean?”

She furrowed her brow, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Sage can be used in loads of different ways, but if _only_ sage is burnt by itself that’s usually for a privacy spell.” Kol and Lis exchanged a quick glance when they said privacy spell simultaneously.

Nik spoke up.

“Why do you ask, brother?”

Before Elijah could answer, Lis stood up, swaying...Kol was steadying her the next second. She distractedly patted his hand to get him to let her go before turning to face the 3 brothers, missing Nik and Elijah’s quick eyes noticing the small unintentional exchange.

“Guys, I-. I uh…I think I might know what Elijah’s talking about. There’s an intense spell being cast upstairs. It feels like blood magic. It may or may not be related to what we were just talking about.”

All four of them exchanged nervous glances.

Well. Esther was proving to be more of a hassle than she initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you get my little Sherlock reference? hehe


	16. All My Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of updating a bit more regularly - How does Wednesdays and Sundays sound?  
> Strong Language, not Beta-Read  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Update: Revised

So, her first ball had been...eventful to say the least. 

But was she surprised as the fact somebody had died (granted, Kol didn't permanently kick the bucket), or that Esther had managed to pull the wool over their eyes without even trying?

No.

Disappointed, yes. But not surprised.

Annalise had flashed to her temporary residence in the Salvatore boarding house relatively soon after Esther had performed that blood magic spell, mood greatly changed from the former anticipation and excitement she'd had for her first ball. She hadn't wanted to leave either - not if her friends were in danger, but Nik had sent her away, thinking one step ahead of everyone else as always. He had wanted her to return to her lodgings as if nothing had happened, and not raise Esther's or Finn's suspicions at being found out so they had enough time to figure out exactly what Esther had done to her children. Returning to the Boarding House also meant that Annalise could work a different angle, and figure out as much as possible through Elena and the Salvatores.

She winced as her foot pressed heavily on a wooden floorboard, making it creak obnoxiously loudly. It was late - late enough to be considered quite early and as she shucked off her dress carefully, she realised at the back of her mind a familiar signature burned bright in the other end of the house...with Damon's signature?

Oh.

Annalise stifled an incredulous laugh before managing to clean her face of make up before she had falling into bed.

Sleep greeted her almost instantly, but the next time she came to, the sun was still relatively high in the morning sky. Her darkened under eyes seemed especially stubborn as she got ready for the day. Feeling Rebekah and Damon walk to the main door, Lis blinked to the foyer of the Boarding house in a flash, just as a shirtless Damon and Rebekah in last night’s clothes stood at the open front door, staring at a shocked Elena who had just tried to knock on the said front door.

This was...awkward.

The four stared at each other a moment before Lis turned to the blonde girl abruptly. “Hey Bekah, I have some comfortable clothes upstairs that’ll fit you. Wanna come up and try some?”

She saw Rebekah shoot a vindictive smirk at Elena as she turned to follow Lis up the stairs. Annalise rolled her eyes at her friend's smug demeanour as she walked into her guest room, though it fell as Rebekah looked around the small room in undisguised distaste at the small space. "Well, this isn't flattering." 

"Well, I am still technically friends with their uh...what do you call someone who is a general nuisance with murderous tendencies?" Lis' voice muffled as she dug through her duffels.

"No, I believe Nik's a special case."

"Yeah, fair."

“Lissie." A pause lingered before she heard Rebekah's footsteps approach her. "Thanks. For not saying anything."

"Don't thank me yet." Lis’s head popped up as she adjusted her glasses, smirking at her friend unsurely scuffing her shoe against the expensive hardwood floorboards. “You're gonna tell me everything, once we’re in my actual room of course.”

Rebekah let out a loud laugh that cut off abruptly as she was pelted in the face by jeans and a large comfortable sweater. “Oi, watch it.”

Annalise snorted, dusting her knees as she straightened, ignoring Rebekah looking at her clothes in veiled judgement. “My jeans could be a bit on the tight side for you since you’re a lot taller, but the big sweater means you don’t have to button your jeans up. Easy solution.”

“You want me to walk around with unbuttoned jeans?" Rebekah shot her an exaggerated scandalised look, hand to her chest. "How utterly unbecoming.”

“It’s way better than the walk of shame look you’ve got going on.” Annalise remarked cheekily while tossing an exaggeratedly insulted Rebekah her toiletry pack. “And wash your make up off by the way. You’re lucky vampires don’t get breakouts.” She pouted, deciding to sit on her bed while her friend walked by her into her attached bathroom, dodging the whack aimed at her shoulder with a giggle.

While Annalise waited, she sent Elena a quick text asking about her thoughts on what Esther did last night in order to figure out what the girl knew, but got no reply. She knew a dead end when she saw one, and the way Elena had avoided her eyes uncomfortably at the door said enough. Damon probably wouldn’t know anything specific about the spell other than the fact that Elena was involved since he had been with Rebekah the entire night - that was a good enough alibi for her. Last of all, she doubted Stefan would tell her because of his blind but kinda justified vendetta against Nik.

Lis also noted how conspicuously quiet the house was – whatever it was that had Elena knocking on Damon's door urgently this early in the morning could apparently wait until they left. That was more than enough to reach the conclusion that Elena knew a _lot_ more than she let on.

Asking her wasn't going to help - whatever Esther had told the young girl had skewed her in the witch's favour. So, after passing a long look at an incredibly guilty-looking Elena, the girls left the house and Lis filled Rebekah in on everything she had missed the night before: Esther’s blood magic, the laced champagne flutes, everything. _Especially_ the part where they all decided to act like everything was normal to draw out Esther’s next step in her plan, and how, most importantly, they also agreed having Lis around as much as possible would lessen the chance of certain death.

_No pressure._

-

As they walked through the grand front door of the Mikaelson Mansion together, they were drawn to the music blasting from the first-floor study. At least this way Lis knew her temporary privacy spell had lifted. 

The house felt emptier as they walked through the hallways after the busy night before. The tall windows allowed the morning sun to stream in and soak everything in a comforting warmth, and the whole house seemed more...welcoming; or maybe Annalise just felt more at ease because she couldn't feel either Esther or Finn in their vicinity. Elijah was...somewhere on the second floor, and Kol and Nik seemed to be in the direction they headed in. It appeared Nik was mainly sedentary, but Kol seemed especially restless. Lis remembered his desperation the night before; they way he had threatened her - then the way he had cooperated when push came to shove. 

That appeared to be the general trend in the Mikaelson Family, and Lis strangely found herself wondering just how much she was willing to forgive.

She was distracted when they reached the study - Kol was on his almost energetic feet as soon as they'd entered, jumping up with a wide grin to greet them cheerfully while blocking Rebekah’s path to Nik with a suggestive grin. “Well, well, well. Here’s our sister.” He side-stepped to get in her way again as Rebekah tried to step around him, annoyed.

“Out of my way, Kol.”

“Out all night, what a scandal.” Lis threw a wave at a quiet Nik as the pair bickered, looking peaceful while sketching with one leg up on the sofa, fondly glancing at his siblings. He sent her a smile in return before returning to his drawing as Kol continued being a general nuisance. “I trust you did better than that commoner. Matt, was it?”

Rebekah groaned, clearly aggravated. “If you don’t shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your _teeth_.” Lis snorted at the insult just as Kol lifted his eyebrows, impressed at Bekah's acidic hiss. Rebekah must have seen Nik smile from the corner of her eye as she pushed past Kol in annoyance. “Don’t start Nik.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Nik smirked innocently, looking more entertained and at ease than he had in the months she had known him. Watching his younger family squabble seemed to have lifted a weight off his shoulders that wasn't so obvious before. Annalise felt a smile tug at her lips as she fondly watched them all interact in front of her, realising that _this_ was what family looked like. She was glad they had each other once more.

“Good morning, darling.” Lis was drawn from her musings as Kol appeared smirking widely in front of her, offering his hand to help her down the two steps into the sunken living room. "Please, allow me." 

“Morning, Kol.” She smiled good-naturedly at him, rolling her eyes and ignoring his hand as she patted his shoulder in favour of taking his hand, and walking over to Nik’s sofa. “Nik, move your legs over.”

He shot her a blank look before returning to his drawing, feet remaining unmoved. Annalise took this personally as she squinted at him, before letting herself fall onto the sofa with an _oof_ , putting her feet up on the coffee table.

Nik nudged her, ignoring Bekah's glare directed at him. “Lissie, feet off the furniture.”

She snorted, “Okay, dad,” before moving her legs to rest over his own outstretched leg. He glared at her cheeky smile, as she delicately ignored it, watching as Kol draped himself backwards with his feet across the armrest of the opposite armchair with a fed up groan. 

“I’m bored." He shot Rebekah a baleful look. "Our sister is a strumpet with a horrible fashion sense; those jeans are far too short on her, but at least she’s having fun.”

Lis scowled at Kol before hitting his forehead with Nik’s eraser. “Oi, don’t call her that, whatever it means. This is the 21st century – no judging." Kol pouted immaturely at her as she continued, ignoring how her voice faltered at his undivided attention. "And side point; don’t insult my jeans – they're my favourite pair.”

Had Annalise looked towards Kol, she would've seen him grin, lips curving up in a small amount of disbelief and amusement, but instead Lis was facing the hybrid’s glower sheepishly as she summoned the eraser back into her hand and passed it back to Nik. 

She looked towards Kol once more when he spoke, rubbing his forehead with a challenging grin. “That hurt darling, but point taken. Speaking of; Nik, I need entertainment.”

Nik went back to his drawing boredly. “What are you waiting for? Have at it.”

Kol kicked his feet off, righting himself up on the armchair with a punctuated groan. “It’s no fun to go alone. Join me, Nik.” His voice took on a more serious note making Lis straighten slightly in wariness. “It’s the least you could do after sticking a dagger in my heart.”

The tone reminded her of the night before, him coercing her to use her magic for him, and Annalise found herself growing rigid, and guarded. Movement to her left drew her attention as Nik sighed, making a big show of putting his sketchbook away - as Lis' eyes met his, he lifted his brow imperceptibly.

Lis nodded in response, shooting him an appreciative grin. He'd felt her stiffen, most likely, and moved in a flourished manner to snap her out of her thoughts. Nik nodded back as he stood. “Okay. Why not. I didn’t have nearly enough to drink last night with you trying to murder her date. Lis, come with me.” Kol’s smile was wide and gleeful as he made to follow Nik out the door past Rebekah. Lis stood up slowly, gave Rebekah a quick hug, and joined the men walking to the door.

“Yes, please go. This house has enough men rolling around in it.” The blonde girl turned retorted at her brothers’ backs. Lis waved at her, but Kol was quick with the come-back, pointing audaciously at his sister.

“Just like you Bekah.”

Kol ducked under the book that Rebekah threw at him and laughed as he ran out the front door. Annalise watched on with a wide smile, deeply amused, before making to follow after them. “Rebekah, Lis.” She paused in the doorway as Elijah called out from the hallway, holding something up to her.

Bekah sighed tiredly. “Not you too, Elijah.”

Elijah shook his head solemnly at Rebekah. "It is as we suspected, sister. Our mother has hidden intentions."

Annalise moved towards him to grab the burnt bundle of sage from his hands that he offered her, smelling it, then passing both of them a worried look. “This is good sage. Potent. There aren’t many places where she could get this easily in Mystic Falls. I’d wager she visited the Bennett’s." Annalise clicked her tongue nervously. "This isn’t good, guys – tonight’s a full moon. If she’s going to pull something off, tonight’s perfect.”

Elijah made a noise of agreement. “Mother has been known to draw power from the Bennett line before.”

Rebekah stepped closer. “What do you think she's up to?”

Lis shrugged helplessly at her before turning to Elijah. “I don’t know what she’s up to, but I do know who does. Elijah, Elena seemed insanely guilty this morning, and I think she really feels bad about putting you in danger. She told me a couple days ago that she really trusted you. She isn’t telling me anything, but maybe she’ll tell you what happened last night.”

Elijah flashed a sharp smile at Lis, and she was reminded of the fact that Elijah was just as much a Mikaelson as Kol, Nik and Rebekah was.

“Good idea, I think I’ll pay her a visit now.”

Lis ran a hand down her face, tamping down her small amount of guilt at setting the metaphorical dogs on Elena in favour of letting her exhaustion seep into her tone. “And _I_ have to leave to supervise day drinking at a bar. Bye Bekah, Lijah.”

She shot them finger guns before blinking into the small alley behind the Mystic Grill, opening the back door, and sneaking inside.

She found Nik and Kol at the bar, a bottle already half-finished beside them. Making her way over, she sat on the empty seat beside Kol. “What took you so long darling?”

Nik tilted his head, silently asking the same question. “Um, Elijah held me back. Had a few questions. I told him about the fact that tonight’s a full moon, and there’s only a couple places and uh… _people_ you can get good some good quality herbs from.”

Realisation dawned in both pairs of eyes as they narrowed in comprehension.

Never let it be said that the Mikaelson’s were anything but smart, even though she _was_ about as subtle as a sledgehammer. Nik knocked back a shot before promptly pouring himself another. “Looks like tonight’s going to be a busy night.”

-

Half an hour later, Lis was stress-eating chips with her foot bouncing restlessly on the bar stool, ignoring the loud Originals beside her.

She had remembered that the essence emanating from the champagne had been so similar to Elena’s that she had almost convinced herself that it was probably a glitch on her radar. But what if the reason Esther wanted Elena was for the most historically accurate reason? Elena’s blood? If the champagne had been laced with doppelganger essence and then blood magic was used in correlation to it, it greatly narrowed down the spectrum of what Esther could have done.

Her bouncing foot ceased at a sudden buzz from her pocket; a text from an unknown number - odd. 

**‘This is Elijah. Elena confirmed the theory and is currently otherwise engaged. She is to be used as leverage. E.M.’**

Even without the initials signing the text, Annalise would've known the text was from Elijah by the proper punctuation alone.

Running a hand through her hair stressfully, Lis put her face in her hands. She had faith that Elijah wouldn’t harm Elena. She hoped. Her phone buzzed again, it was Rebekah this time, complaining about Elijah making her babysit her least favourite person.

Shit, okay…She was now considerably less confident that Elena might not be hurt.

Nudging Kol, who sat between her and Nik, she passed him her phone subtly, showing him the two successive texts. His face betrayed no change from the cheerful grin the alcohol had induced, before he then displayed her phone to Nik. Again - no change in expression. These men were seasoned professionals, in _whatever_ this was, and while it looked so incredibly cool, her guilt and anxiety towards being the reason Elena got trapped in their hands was starting to sky-rocket. 

Annalise's leg bounced faster, and faster until she stood abruptly, breathing shallow. Both Nik and Kol looked to her casually, though their eyes were sharp. "Bathroom." Lis managed in a strangled manner, before high-tailing it over to the public restrooms to their left. 

Splashing some water on her face, Annalise took a few deep breaths before looking at her flushed face in the mirror. Elijah won't let Rebekah hurt Elena, _of course_ he wouldn't; he'd fought Klaus to protect her before Lis had come along too. But...that _had_ unfortunately been before Elena had knowingly put his family in danger; before she had involved herself with Esther in a plot that just _maybe_ might hurt Elijah's brothers and sister. 

Yeah...this could turn out bad. Annalise breathed her building guilt out deeply. Elena _knew_ what she was getting into when she willingly played a part in an attempt to hurt her friend and his family, so it wasn't as if she didn't deserve the coming consequences. Plus, Elijah had said she was leverage - and leverage doesn't usually get hurt. Annalise took a deeper breath, feeling a little lighter.

Her eyes flew open in surprised as her faucet turned off with a squeak, and Annalise startled at the arm at her tap, following it with her eyes to Kol, leaning against the sink next to her.

"Uh...I think you're lost."

"Not at all." Kol crossed his arms, studying her closely. "Nik was worried after you."

"So he sent _you?"_ Annalise faltered in her incredulity when Kol lifted a single brow, almost daring her to keep going. Instead she cleared her throat delicately. "I mean, ah...thanks?" 

He huffed in amusement. "I volunteered darling. I've been meaning to talk to you." 

Annalise regarded him warily, crossing her own arms to mirror his posture. "Dare I ask why?" 

"By all means, Lissa. Dare away." The infuriating smirk was back, lips tilted and eyes glinting with mischief. "I only wanted to address your...tense reaction to me this morning. I did hope I'd amended my awful behaviour the night before? That a certain level of trust and camaraderie had been achieved."

Annalise rolled her eyes hard, "Sure, my bad." She grinned sarcastically. "Why _wouldn't_ I trust you completely after you threatened me?" 

Kol's jaw clenched as his dark eyes narrowed in an almost defensive manner, but Annalise held her hand up with an apologetic sigh. "I-" Lis sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly from under her glasses. "I'm sorry, I did have fun last night. You redeemed yourself, kinda. I'm lashing out. This whole situation is just stressing the hell out of me."

"You're second-guessing helping us?" His eyes had narrowed suspiciously, face grim. 

"No." Annalise shook her head immediately. "Of course not. I don't want anyone to hurt Nik, Bekah - their family. No offence but your mum's an arsehole," Kol nodded in agreement as Lis continued, "I just feel bad for Elena. She feels cornered, like she _has_ to fight back, and I just delivered her straight to who she believes wants her hurt. I'm just horrified at myself." 

"Don't be." Kol sounded unnervingly serious. "You're miles away from being horrifying. Trust me." 

A wry grin pulled at her lips. "There you go again, asking me to trust you." 

Kol grinned widely, settling a heavy arm around her shoulder as he steered her out of the bathroom and into the grill beyond. Annalise was mortified by the glances they got from the patrons of the Mystic Grill, and only distractedly listened to Kol as he spoke. 

“Well, you shouldn't stress, darling. Everything will turn out fine. We’ve got _you_.”

“That only stresses me more, you know.” She said dryly.

“I’m glad to be of service.” He shot her a grin, before sitting her back down in her chair, and promptly going back to flirting with the pretty bartender.

Lis chuckled and rolled her eyes at his audacious behaviour, shaking her head at Nik in reassurance. She was fine.

Annalise looked around for a few minutes before realising that Alaric and a beautiful woman were seated at the other end of the bar, looking over at them every couple of minutes. He caught her eye, and gave her an accusing stare before his eyes moved on to watching Nik and Kol carefully. As she shifted in unease, Nik followed her line of sight, his focus layering in on the movement of Alaric's and the brunette's mouth with a heavy frown.

She wondered what the pair was talking about to put the Hybrid in a sour mood. Kol was now looking in that direction too, studying them and listening in. Just as Annalise was about to cast a selective hearing spell out of sheer curiosity, Nik abruptly left his chair and headed in the pair’s direction with Kol following immediately behind. Lis grabbed her phone and her chips before doing a little jog to catch up the two brothers in time to hear Nik speak up.

“Oh, come on now. Let’s not go blaming the new family in town just 'cos you lot have got yourself a killer at large.”

Alaric glanced at Lis, nodding slightly in response to her awkward wave, before looking apprehensively at Kol who had decided leaning on the wall next to them and staring at them unblinkingly was the way to go. It was an unnerving, to say the least. Nik noticed, and gestured to his little brother with a smirk. “Don’t mind us, my brother and I are just here to let off some steam. Right, Kol?”

Kol smiled slowly, eyes betraying no expression whatsoever as he replied. “Right.”

The lady next to Alaric looked visibly uncomfortable as Nik and Kol moved back to their original seats. Lis stayed behind and offered her basket to the pair. “Hot chip?”

Alaric grinned weakly before grabbing one. “These are fries, not chips.” Lis pouted, taking the basket away from him. 

“Don’t correct me if you’re gonna grab my food, ass. I am glad though that you're well now, though. That stabbing business was pretty awful.” She waved at the woman, who smiled back uncertainly. “Hi, I’m Lis.”

“Dr. Meredith Fell, I heard you healed Ric. I’d love to see it sometime.”

“Yeah, um…thanks. Nice to meet you too doctor."

"Why are you still with _them?"_ Alaric interrupted impatiently. "They could be the ones that stabbed me." 

"They aren't." Annalise levelled him with an unimpressed look. "I told you that night that the killer clearly messed with the electricity _inside_ the house; it couldn't have been the Mikaelsons. But, um…just to put your fears further at rest. Or unrest, I don’t know.” She backed away shrugging feeling vindictive all of a sudden at his accusatory tone. “If those guys were killing people, you’d _definitely_ know it was them.”

As she moved back to her seat Nik shot her an approving grin for unnerving the poor doctor even further, but she shrugged tiredly. She was just telling her the truth. Sue her.

Annalise paused grabbing her phone out of her pocket as it vibrated rapidly. Nik was also looking down at his. She huffed out a sudden chuckle. Elijah had added her, Nik and Rebekah into a group chat. She felt Kol peer over her shoulder, so she angled the screen to show him better. “We have to get you a phone too Kol, we have a Mikaelson group text - who'd have ever thunk.”

“Not a word Lissa.” Kol mumbled as he read her phone over her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know smartass. It’s just a thing.”

Elijah had sent a series of texts, outlining his plan to use Elena as leverage to get the Salvatores to do his bidding – to take Bonnie and her mother out of the equation, stopping Esther from drawing on their bloodline magic to do the spell. Lis frowned to herself; Bonnie and her mom didn’t deserve to die for this. She texted Elijah back saying the witches didn’t need to be killed, just taken very far away from Mystic Falls.

Distance matters.

Sure, the bloodline connection won’t be broken, but it will be greatly weakened. Esther will have to rely on spiritual magic alone to do the spell. She also mentioned that because of that fact, Esther is most likely to be at the Old Witch House in order to channel those spirits.

Nik helpfully reminded everyone that the full moon reaches its peak at 9:07 pm.  
  


Lis looked up from her phone, bored without anything specific to do. Letting her gaze wander around the crowded bar once more, she noticed Alaric and Dr. Fell playing pool at a table in the corner. But that wasn't what caught her eye - interestingly, she saw Alaric sharing a significant glance with Caroline, who had just entered the diner. She raised a brow as Caroline conspicuously unbuttoned her jacket to reveal a very low-cut top. 

Well, that was interesting. 

Typing a quick subtle message to Nik, Lis turned back around to her chips. **‘Caroline's a distraction. Act normally.’**

She saw him glance at his phone unnoticeably before shifting it slightly to allow Kol to grab a glimpse. Both turned in their chair and started joking about, acting more drunk than they really were. Annalise watched on, impressed; they truly were masters of their craft.

Kol gestured with the half-full glass of whiskey in his hand at Caroline as she made to walk obviously past them to draw their attention. “I remember her from last night, she looks like a tasty little thing.” Lis grimaced at the remark, and Nik looked suitably pissed. Distraction or not, this _was_ the girl he was crushing on.

“Say another word and I’ll tear out you liver.” he growled. 

Lis leaned her head on her left hand before she retorted drily. “Oh no, don’t do that Nik. He needs it to break down the metric tonne of whisky he just drank.”

Caroline rolled her eyes, making to walk straight past them as if they were beneath her. Lis smirked, the girl had no discretion, absolutely none. Maybe that’s was good thing – maybe it meant she was an inherently honest person. Annalise suddenly felt guilty about bagging her out the night before. Nik called out to her as she passed. “Caroline.”

Caroline turned around, acting as if she _just_ saw Nik, crossing her arms. “Oh, it’s you.”

Lis hid her snort in her shoulder at the horrible acting and exchanged an amused glance with Kol.

Nik persisted, still smiling widely. “Join us for a drink?”

“Hmm, I’d rather die of thirst, but thanks.” Caroline sneered flatly at the Hybrid before promptly spinning on her heel and leaving, swaying her hips just a _little_ more than necessary. Lis completely lost it tried to hide her silent laughter behind Kol's arm, but Nik kept up the charade knowing Caroline could still hear them. “Isn’t she stunning?”

Kol leaned back on the bar behind him, smirking at Nik. “She certainly looks good walking away from you.” He grinned at the muffled peal of laughter that erupted from his shoulder following that statement proudly.

Nik put his drink down, causing a still-grinning Lis to poke her head out of Kol’s shoulder and tilt her head questioningly. “I’m going to take that as a challenge.”

As Lis tried to catch her breath, she leaned close to the vampire left sitting next to her and mumbled. “Isn’t the whole point of knowing she’s a distraction being _not_ distracted? He is actually _so_ stupid for leaving.”

Kol looked at her. “Don’t you want to follow him then? Make sure he’s safe?” She grimaced before running a hand through her plait to loosen it slightly.

“Um, yuck. I don’t have an urgent need to watch people flirt thank you very much. Besides, what kinda friend would I be if I just left you here alone?”

Kol paused before narrowing his eyes at her. “You consider me your friend, Lissa?”

She shrugged, taking her glasses off to use the bottom of her cute peach coloured jumper to clean them before sliding them back on. “Sure, Kol. Consider it the first step to trusting you." She shot him a significant look. "Besides, I’ve never shown anyone what I showed you near the fountain yesterday. You were really cool until you decided to pull that 180 on me, y'know?”

Annalise was surprised to see Kol nod at her with a small genuine smile in his eyes for a moment before standing up suddenly, making Lis glance up at him in shock. “Wait, where are you going?”

He shrugged at her, but his eyes gestured to Alaric conspicuously missing from beside his lady date. “I’m going to play some pool, darling. Care to play?”

Lis joined him on the elevated level next to Dr. Fell’s pool table, pouting. “I'm rubbish at this anyway. All good, you can play. I’ll just watch.”

Annalise sat back on a table next to the pool table, waving slightly to the confused looking doctor as Kol suddenly joined her game. “A woman of your calibre ought to choose more suitable company.” He leaned over Meredith’s shoulder annoyingly. “What’s your name, love?”

Meredith hit the yellow striped ball into a corner hole and stepped easily away from Kol, moving around the table. “None of your business.”

Lis smirked. She _could_ help Kol out, but it was so much more fun watching him struggle. “Let’s try that again. I’ll start. I’m Kol.”

“Why don’t you get lost Kol?” Meredith didn’t even spare him a glance. Dr. Fell is pretty impressive. She certainly wasn’t expecting this attitude from the unnerved state before.

“And why would I do that? I like pretty little things with sharp tongues.” Lis leaned back at Kol’s attempt to regain lost ground. That clearly wasn’t the way to do it.

“Ew, Kol. Objectify women much?” Meredith shot her a smile as she passed her walking away from the Original.

"Well, that certainly wasn't my intent." Kol made up the distance quickly and reached towards her, smirking darkly at the doctor's continued efforts to get a rise out of him. She wasn't backing away. 

That wasn't...normal. Something else was happening - the doctor was distracting them!

Lis got to her feet rushed as she saw Alaric step up behind Kol threateningly. She stepped closer to Kol with narrowed eyes looking over his shoulder. “I think she told you to get lost.”

Kol didn’t even spare a glance at Alaric, smirking while looking at a worried Lis when he answered, “Pretty sure I don’t care.”

Kol turned around, pushing Lis away just to double over in pain as Alaric stabbed something deep into Kol’s gut. Annalise then went to lunge at Alaric, but a sharp pain burst from the back of her head making her stumble. A feminine voice swore lightly and apologised, saying something about hitting her too hard. She felt something wet drip down her neck, as she looked around sluggishly, disoriented. There were arms under hers now, dragging her down a corridor.

Sharp throbs of pain spread from the back of her head, Annalise felt as though she wast floating, woozy. She blinked trying to focus. She was hurt. She needed to heal. She concentrated warm magic to where it hurt the most, and slowly, the pain went away, and her vision started to clear.

Annalise pretended to stay limp until she found her bearings.

Meredith had hit her with a _fucking_ billiard ball. They had daggered Kol, judging by the ashen hue to his skin revealed by her subtly slitted eyes. They were dragging them outside. To _her_ alley. Wrong move.

A smirk played lightly on her lips as she disappeared into nothing in Meredith’s arms the next second.

Then she was behind Alaric, shoving him forwards hard enough to send him skidding across the ground and into the brick wall across her, lightly, and pulling the dagger from Kol and teleporting it to first floor study back at the mansion in the same movement. She watched closely as Meredith went to go help Alaric up, and shifted to move in front of Kol’s body defensively, watching out of the corner of her eye as his grey complexion receded rapidly.

She whipped her head around to look down the alley as two vampires suddenly blinked on her radar. They moved closer, out of the shadows as she raised her voice to address them. “Damon, Stefan. Fancy seeing you here.”

Damon held his hands up, placatingly. “Now, now, witchy. There’s 4 of us, one of you. How about you count your losses and regroup? Elena wouldn’t want us to hurt you.”

Lis clenched her fists and scowled at him. “You just warned me, so let me return the favour. How about this? I won’t fight unless you attack first.”

Damon shrugged. “That sounds like a challenge.”

Stefan _rushed_ at her, but she raised her hand faster; and the next thing he knew, he froze in mid-air. His eyes were moving around wildly, but the rest of him stood completely frozen, right down to the wrinkles of his shirt. Her eyes burned silver. Damon, Alaric and Meredith had all also stilled at her effortless display of power, eyes focused on Stefan worriedly, now at her complete mercy.

Lis sighed, shaking her head sadly, before flicking her wrist; sending Stefan flying into the alley wall a lot harder than Alaric with a resounding _CRACK_ that would've worried her on a normal day. Now? She couldn't bring herself to care.

Vampires heal anyway - he'd be fine.

Her voice was rough as she spoke. “I hope you guys understand; I don’t hurt people because I don’t _want_ to, not because I _can’t._ I could pull out your hearts with just a literal snap of my fingers. Just _please_. Don’t ever mistake my generosity for being naive.”

There was a breeze behind her as she felt Nik's familiar signature appear at her shoulder. Moving around her, he threateningly stalked towards the vampires.

Lis moved to side slightly, out of the doorway into the Mystic Grill, letting a scared and guilty Meredith pass back into the Mystic grill, supporting Alaric. She stared blankly at them in return before looking back at the Original Hybrid busy glaring down two vampires.

“I should have killed you months ago.” Nik's low voice carried in the dark alleyway.

“Do it. It’s not gonna stop Esther from killing you.” Nik remained silent as Damon kept talking, smugly thinking he had the upper hand. “You didn’t know I was friends with your mommy? Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do.”

Nik smirked, causing Damon to step back looking confused. “Did you think I didn’t know?”

Lis glanced up at the stairs at the start of the alley again, feeling a familiar signature and breathing a sigh of relief. “Lijah, you’re okay.”

Elijah descended the steps down the alley quickly, nodding at Annalise, before moving past Nik to show Damon and Stefan a photo on his phone. “You tell me where the witches are, or I’ll have my sister kill Elena right now.”

Panic filled Damon’s eyes as he glanced down at a picture of Elena trapped somewhere dark on the phone. “I thought you said we had until after 9?”

Elijah smirked. “I’m sure Rebekah would be more than happy to start her work early.”

“Wait, Elijah, stop. We know where they are. I told you.” Lis stepped around him to face Damon with a glare. “Bonnie and her mother don’t need to be hurt either. Just vamp-speed them as far away from here as you can. It should be enough to weaken the spell.”

Annalise turned back around to Kol who had started shifting on the floor in pain, kneeling down next to him before offering a hand each to Elijah and Nik. “Come on, we have to stop your homicidal mum.” They both grabbed it without question and the next moment all four of them appeared in the forest, far enough that Esther wouldn't feel their presence yet.

She looked up at the two older brothers as she kneeled, gently coaxing Kol’s wound to heal faster. “How did you guys know that we were in trouble?”

Nik scowled, rubbing subconsciously at his own stomach. “I felt as though I was daggered, but not really. I wasn’t all that affected; I was able to move around and find you.”

“Me on the other hand – I was immobilised. Fully desiccated.” Elijah frowned, looking away.

Lis nodded, shifting Kol slightly upwards to help him sit up better. “That makes sense. We can assume that Esther used Elena’s blood as a binding agent, she used blood magic last night to seal the deal. You guys are all linked. One gets daggered - all of you do.”

The man in her lap sat upwards violently after all his grey veins receded. “Wait till I get my hands on that hunter-”

Annalise stood up, brushing the dirt off her jeans before offering Kol a hand. “You can’t declare murder _every time_ you wake up Kol, you’ve gotta have some variety, show some flavour, keep it spicy, yeah?”

Kol grabbed her hand and stood up, sullen before pausing. His nostrils flared and turned in a circle slowly as the other three watched him, curiously.

“What are you doing now, Kol?” Nik sounded annoyed.

“Don’t you two smell that? Something smells absolutely divine.”

Elijah’s nostrils flared angrily. “Kol, now is _not_ the time to think with about _blood-,”_ He cut himself off, frowning. “He’s right. That doesn’t smell normal.”

Lis stumbled backwards flailing before using an arm to brace herself against a tree when Kol blurred right in front of her. “What the _hell, Kol?”_

There was a sliver of moonlight illuminating Kol’s face through the tall trees, his eyes were dark, almost dangerous. He lifted a large hand to cradle her stunned face, his thumb gently skimming her cheek, while his fingers dug lightly into the back of her head. She winced. 

He took his hand away equally as slowly and lifted his fingers up to the moonlight, showing a dark stain on his fingertips. “I think you’re bleeding Lissa.”

Her eyes widened in recollection as she scowled, walking around the still stationary Kol staring at the small amount of blood on his fingertips and collecting her handbag off the forest floor, lifting a slightly glowing hand to her head in a huff. Once she'd healed her wound, Annalise waved her hand, cleaning up any residual blood left in her hair, as well as the small amount on Kol's hand.

“I forgot. That doctor lady. She nearly caved my head in with a billiard ball – that’s why it took so long for me to take the dagger out of Kol. I had to heal the damage halfway before even standing up to them. Would’ve thought she was against hurting people. Do no harm and all that, y’know?”

Nik walked forwards; eyes concerned. “Are you well now, Lissie?”

She took her hand away from her completely healed wound and nodded, before cracking her neck. “Yeah. I’m well enough to fight. I don’t think any de-linking spells I know will work on you guys though. Blood Magic linked you, so it has to unlink you - I’m gonna need Finn’s blood for that. Let’s hope the Salvatores taking the Bennetts away will be enough to weaken Esther’s spell.” She looked up at the moon before looking at the three brothers. “We should go. The moon’s almost at its peak.”

They nodded at her before blurring off through the trees. Lis braced herself and blinked to the front of the Old Witch House just as Nik, Elijah and Kol casually walked up next to her. She looked forwards to what waited them.

Finn was in the middle of a pentagram made of salt, surrounded by five tall lit torches, one at each point on the star, casting the clearing in front of the Old Witch House in a red foreboding light. Esther was standing outside, circling it.

A furrow dipped her brow as Annalise stared at the ritual display, confused..what spell was Esther trying to perform here? Was this how she was trying to kill her children without having possession of a white oak stake?

Esther spoke up, ignoring her presence as usual. “My sons, come forward.”

Finn rained an arm defensively and talked over his shoulder to Esther. “Stay behind me.” Esther stepped into the salt and held Finn’s hand in reply. “It’s okay, they can’t enter.”

Kol stepped closer and Esther’s statement rang true as he was halted by an invisible shield and the torches flared, burning brighter in a fearsome manner. He resorted to pacing around the circle angrily instead. “That’s lovely, we’re stuck out here while the favourite son plays sacrificial lamb. How _pathetic_ you are, Finn.”

“Be quiet Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot imagine.” Esther replied calmly. Lis clenched her fists, studying Esther and her spell instead. Esther did _not_ remind her of her mother in her last moments. No, she didn't, not at all. 

Elijah’s voice was filled with quiet anger. “Whatever you think of us, killing you own children would be an atrocity.” Annalise's chest hurt, as she clenched her shaking hands. _Fuck,_ her parents had really messed her up, hadn't they?

Nik walked forwards until he was next to Kol when Esther replied. “My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago.”

“Enough. All this talk is boring me.” Nik growled. “End this now mother, or I’ll send you back to hell.” He ended his threat with a light smirk, which dropped quickly as Esther stepped forwards, closer to him.

"For a thousand years I’ve been forced to watch you. I felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood.” Her gaze flitted to the Elijah, watching solemnly. “Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you’re no better.” Elijah shifted guiltily while Esther regarded all three of her children outside the circle with a critical look. “All of you, you’re a curse on this earth, stretched out over generations.” Her eyes teared slightly. “If you’ve come to plead for your life, I’m sorry. You’ve wasted your time.”

Lis stepped forwards as Esther closed her eyed, softly murmuring words that she couldn’t hear. The moon was at the peak and she _had to-!_

Her feet froze. She had felt two witches in the old house in front of them, shining brighter than the cluster of dead spirits – but one the lights had just died. She swore internally – she had told the Salvatores to take the witches _away,_ not _kill_ them. The spirits were gonna be pissed. More so than usual.

Esther’s eyes moved wildly under her closed eyelids, sensing that she was no longer connected to the bloodline she was trying to draw from. “No, sisters. Do not abandon me!”

Finn dragged Esther out of the circle in just in time, as the flames from the torches exploded in an angry blaze of heat less than a second later, before extinguishing fully and leaving the clearing silent, save for loud sizzling emanating from the darkened sooty torches.

Thick smoke blocked their vision and Lis felt something grab her arm hard, before the world blurred. The next moment, she was standing opposite to Nik, Elijah and Kol with Esther to her side - Finn was holding her neck, tightly.

The brothers opposite them stepped forwards, concerned but aborted as they watched Finn’s hold tighten on Lis’s delicate neck.

Esther turned imploringly towards Lis – her eyes were wide, and convincing. “ _You_ can help me, dear. Let me channel you, and the witches _will_ accept you as one of their own! You will never be shunned again; _you have my word.”_

Lis narrowed her eyes at her, struggling in Finn’s grip. “I don’t know how much you know about convincing people, but choking definitely doesn’t win any points in your favour. It didn’t work when you first met me, and it certainly isn’t working now. It’s not you; I’m just not that into it.”

At Esther’s signal, Finn released her.

Levelling him with a harsh scowl, Annalise rubbed at her neck before turning back to Esther, gesturing at the salt pentagram. “It took me a while to place it. The salt, the pentagram, the torches, the moon and the power you need from the Bennetts. You’re doing an old-fashioned reversal spell – one specific to a spell that _you_ cast. The five torches represent your children, so you’re trying to reverse a spell you placed on them, and I doubt it’s the blood linking spell you placed on them last night.”

“Smart girl.” Esther raised her brows, seeming reluctantly impressed. “Yes, I was making right the worst mistake I made in my entire life – when I turned my children into these horrifying creatures.”

Lis stepped back in shock. “You were going to make them human again.”

Esther nodded. “I didn’t need the white oak to kill them once they were.”

“But why not just stop there?” Lis squinted at her, confused.

Crickets filled the sudden silence.

Esther tilted her head looking bewildered. Lis put her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes as she elaborated. “Why not just stop at making your children human? Why go to the trouble of killing them? What’s the point? It’s not like they’ll go around drinking blood for _fun_ or anything. You would have undone your big-ass mistake and the spirits would’ve been pleased.”

Esther stuttered; her eyes wide. “Bu-But the balance of nature,”

Lis held her hands up. “As if you give a flying _fuck_ about the balance of nature – you literally went against it to catalyze the creation of an entirely new species!”

“They are _abominations-”_

“But aren’t you too?” Lis’s quiet question halted Esther’s rage abruptly.

Lis’s voice was soft, but her words rang heavily in the clearing.

“Them, and me, we are considered abominations because of what we are, because we’ve made _bad_ choices, because they gave _into_ the nature of being the apex predator _you_ intended them to be. You intentionally created a species more dangerous than werewolves out of fear _for_ your family; I’ve heard the story. But you, Esther, _what’s your excuse?_ ”

Lis stepped closer to the witch, with her back to her friends behind her.

“You are an abomination because you went _against_ your nature. You went against both your nature as a witch, and a _mother._ You stand here and you asked a complete _stranger_ you despise to help you kill your family- if this is what being a witch means, I don’t _need their acceptance._ I’m fine the way I am."

Esther’s eyes were tearing up, but her face was set grimly. “They don’t belong here. They’re not meant to _exist.”_

Annalise let out a dry chuckle, stepping backwards. “You really think you’re _that_ powerful? Esther you give yourself _far_ too much credit.” Esther exchanged a confused glance with Finn as Lis kept smirking. 

“I brought into being the vampire species which was previously non-existent. They don’t belong here.”

The young woman held her hands up in a mock surrender motion. “Okay, let’s say you receive a partial credit of participation. Sure, your spell helped. But at the end of the day, it certainly isn’t _your_ magic keeping them here.”

“I don’t understand.”

Lis smirked, walking further backwards towards the trio of brothers behind her, shrugging. “Well, I’ll dumb it down for you then. They have just as much right to be here as we do. If nature didn’t want vampires to exist,” She spread her arms wide. “they _wouldn’t.”_

Scowling, Esther screamed in frustration throwing her hands up, aimed at her - the torches around them became geysers of fire once more; this time the blaze came towards her in a firestorm. _Damn._

Gritting her teeth she braced herself on the ground, lifting her hands towards the attack in an instant, pushing her magic towards it while turning her face away from the heat. Only, she wasn't incinerated like she'd thought she'd be. The heat never came. Squinting her eyes back open to look at the bright fire in front of her, she realised she was dividing the flames to either side of her – parting it like the sea.

The Originals behind her were safe.

When the attack ended after a few long moments, Esther and Finn had disappeared from where they stood.

Tiredly, she turned around to face the brothers who were watching her with varying degrees of incredulity. Their disbelief made sense...after all they had seen her redirect an explosion of heat nearly two stories high. Rubbing her arms, she shivered, feeling the cold seeping in through her thin jacket before holding her hands out. 

“C’mon, I’ll get you guys home.”

They appeared in the study; the same one they had been joking in that morning. Nik stormed away immediately, and Kol sped upstairs close behind him. Elijah slowly walked to the window and looked outside, pensively. Lis rubbed at her eyes tiredly, feeling drained from the figurative shit show. She deserved some rest.

Leaving a silent and distracted Elijah behind, she plodded up the stairs slowly and made her way to her room. Esther wasn’t coming back here tonight – she was eager to spend time in her favourite little sanctuary.

Not that she would be able to relax for too long though, the siblings were linked – unlinking them just became her number one priority. There were preparations to be made – blood to be collected. Ugh, she’d have to use her favourite vials for this, then track everyone down.

Kol stepped out of the shadows near her door, making her startle in fright - hands up in a defensive position.

He watched her in amusement as she lowered her hands sheepishly before he spoke. “I can’t get into your room.”

“That's because I have this policy, y'know? I only let people I trust in.” Cue awkward smile as Kol went to leave, grabbing his arm. "You pushed me out of the way again tonight."

Kol's dark eyes brightened in understanding before he smirked. "That's because you seem to have this infuriating habit of getting in the way." 

Annalise snorted, rolling her eyes at his smooth reply. "I'll work on it. Here, come on in." 

She gestured at him to follow her inside and watched him raise an eyebrow in surprise as he didn’t run into an invisible barrier this time. He entered, looking around the room slowly as Annalise leaned against the wall next to her window studying him in turn. He stopped a few feet away from her, voice serious once more. “Mother fled with Finn. She will be back to attack us again once she regains her strength, so I’m leaving.” He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, but she smiled in sad understanding.

“Kol, that’s the exact reason I need to stay here; in case she comes back. I need to help Nik.”

He looked away jaw clenched before he nodded, turning to leave with a wide leer. “Of course, _poor Nik._ What happened to wanting to not leave a friend alone?”

Lis strode over and grabbed him by the arm, speaking gently. “That still applies, jackass. You’re the one who’s doing the leaving. Plus, I’ve literally known you for about 3 days. I need to stay here because I feel like a lot of shit’s about to go down - I need to be here to help people.”

He gave her a slight nod with another unreadable look. “Helping people. Overrated, isn’t it?”

She sighed rubbing her brow. “Sure, Kol. But, uh…before you leave, I need your blood.”

He nodded in understanding and watched closely as she walked to the small cupboard next to her dresser and pulled out a clear vial the size of a pill bottle. “For the blood linking spell. You won’t be able to break it without Finn’s blood.” He stated.

She dropped the vial in Kol’s outstretched hand and grimaced as he bit into his wrist and held the bleeding wound carefully over the vial. “Uh...yeah, that’s right up there on my to do list.”

Annalise capped the vial once his wound had healed and stopped bleeding, placed it on her dresser; picking up a stray pen and grabbing Kol’s other palm to write her number down. “I don’t want you completely alone out there. First thing you do: get a phone and call me. I’ll help you with anything you need, okay?”

Kol looked at her unsurely with his dark eyes before taking his hand out of hers and putting it in his pocket. “Right.”

Without another word, he blurred out of her sight.

She stood still for a moment, jerking when she heard the sound of the front door shut. Pushing aside the feeling of whatever it was she felt at his abrupt departure, Annalise grabbed a few more vials, teleported to the foyer where she heard voices echo. Rebekah was home, and she had found Elijah, who hadn’t moved from where Lis had left him.

“Where the bloody hell is everyone?”

Lis leaned on the doorframe behind Rebekah, supplying helpfully. “Nik’s upstairs in the drawing room. Kol just left.”

Rebekah nodded at her before her gaze moved to Elijah, turning away from the window. “It’s over, Rebekah.”

She looked worried at his bleak tone, and moved closer. “Where’s mother?”

He shifted away, his eyes not meeting his sister’s; leaning against the back of a chair. “We have no mother, only Esther. And Esther was right.”

“What do you mean?” Confusion and slight fear coloured her friend's tone.

“All my talk of virtue; when it suits my needs, I kill, maim, and torment. Even today I terrorized an innocent.” He walked closer to Rebekah until he stood in front of her.

“Elena is hardly innocent.” Rebekah was quick to interject coldly.

“And I used your hatred of her to get what I wanted.” He rebuffed. “Wielded you like I would a sword. My _sister_.”

Annalise frowned, disagreeing with what Elijah said, but didn’t want to interrupt the conversation between the two siblings. It felt far too personal – she shouldn’t even have been here to witness it, but it spoke volumes about how much they trusted Lis in the short amount of time they’d known her, and it made her feel strangely humbled.

Rebekah seemed to disagree too. “You did it to _protect_ us, Elijah, and rightly so. We deserve to live. We are better than they are.”

“Are we?’ Elijah’s voice was low, and hopeless like he already knew the answer to his question. He glanced at Lis, as if recalling her words from the clearing. “Mother made us vampires. She didn’t make us _monsters_. We made _wrong_ choices. We did that to ourselves.”

Elijah walked past Lis out of the room. She exchanged a worried glance with Rebekah before smiling thinly. “I’ll have a quick chat with him.”

At her nod of affirmation she walked after Elijah, stopping him in the small room just before the foyer. “Elijah, wait.” He turned giving her a small smile.

“You have my thanks Lis. For your loyalty to Niklaus, to this family.”

She shook her head in dismissal at his thanks before stepping closer, holding out a vial. “Yeah, um....before you leave, I need your blood for the de-linking spell.”

He nodded and bit his wrist in a similar fashion to Kol, albeit a bit more neatly and proper in the way he uncuffed his shirt in an effortless motion. Lis watched the blood drip rapidly into the container and looked up to see Elijah’s eyes also narrowed in thought looking at his blood. “I wonder how much blood we’ve spilled, because of our choices. You were right tonight, Lis, we gave into our base natures – _we_ are the result of our _own_ bad decisions.”

Lis moved closer and patted his arm softly, causing his eyes to flick to hers. “Lijah, I meant what I said in the clearing, but I think you misunderstood me. Sure, we’ve all made bad choices, done terrible things. But, _please_ remember this. Who you _are,_ and who you need to _be_ to survive and protect your family; they are two very different things.” He smiled appreciatively, albeit sadly at her.

“Thank you for your kind words, but you can’t compare yourself to us. You don’t have a bad bone in your body – but _we,_ we’ve done things too terrible to comprehend _.”_

Elijah looked sad and troubled. Lis wondered exactly what weighed him down so much – what he really did to deserve such a heavy burden. She studied him for a long moment with dark eyes shining behind her glasses, lifting her chin up, before shaking her head in denial.

“I’ve seen monsters Lijah. Anyone has the power to become one – doesn’t matter whether they are human, or supernatural. All they have to do is give into the darkness inside them – like my parents did. But you, you look like you’re still fighting your darkness. Some choices matter more than others – this choice to fight your demons? That’s one of them. That doesn’t make you a _monster_ Elijah, that makes you a _good person_.”

He shook his head lightly, but his eyes were warmer now, smiling. He handed her the capped blood-filled vial gently. “Wise words to go by. Goodbye, little Lissie.”

She grabbed it and sent him a soft smile. “Goodbye, Lijah. Keep in touch.”

-

Annalise locked the large front door after watching Elijah disappear into the night, then teleported up to Nik’s drawing room where she felt the remaining siblings had gathered. They startled slightly at her appearance before Rebekah gave her a genuine smile.

“We were talking before we heard the conversation between you and Elijah. Thank you for what you said to our brother. He deserves this the least.”

Annalise blushed in embarrassment, before rolling her eyes, shrugging. “No one deserves it, Bekah. And uh…I have blood from both Kol and Elijah – for when we need to do the linking spell. I’m gonna need the both of yours too.”

Nik and Bekah nodded at her – Rebekah kindly, and Nik in subtle gratitude - before the Rebekah took her phone out and moved over to Nik who was leaning against the brick of a lit fireplace.

“There’s something I think you both need to see.” Nik pushed off the fireplace, walking towards Rebekah to collect the phone in her outstretched hand.

“Come to brag about your skills as a torturer?” His familiar smirk stretched his lips before it dropped almost immediately, eyes narrowing as they studied the photo that Rebekah had presented him with. Lis moved forward to stand in front of the pair, peering over Nik’s hand at Rebekah’s phone.

“Look at the images on the wall behind Elena. The natives told the story of our history.” Rebekah replied in response to Lis’s questioning expression before continuing. “Look at the images on the far wall.”

“What is it?” Nik asked gravely.

“A native worshipping at the great white oak tree.” Rebekah moved the phone closer to Nik.

“And?” His brows raised; eyes skeptical. “We burned that tree to the ground.”

“Look at the markings that precede it.” Rebekah’s expression was tight and unnerved. “That’s the native calendar.”

Nik tilted his head, examining the symbol closely before disbelief flooded his eyes, along with a small amount of fear. “This can’t be right.”

Lis looked between them, lost. Rebekah noticed and explained immediately. “A white oak tree, three hundred years after we fled back to the Old World. There must have been a sapling, a new tree to replace the old.”

Lis exhaled lowly. “Meaning there’s a tree out here that could kill you. _Fuck.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys catch my 100 reference :)


	17. Break On Through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love comments, so here's another chapter that was finished early. :)  
> Not Beta-read, Strong Language.  
> Enjoy!

A few days had passed since the bombshell that there had been another White Oak tree had dropped.

Rebekah had left early the very next morning to search the Founder’s archive for any record of the white oak tree, but the search had been fruitless. They'd managed to confirm the presence of the tree, yes, but the tree had been felled by an unknown party soon after it had been logged in. Annalise had then texted her to go talk to Mayor Lockwood about tracking down the tree – so while Rebekah was out and about hunting down leads, she in turn had decided to spend a quiet day indoors.

Lis had made herself comfortable in one of the many grand libraries in the mansion, curled up in an armchair in front of a warm fire, sipping coffee. There really wasn't much for her to do, so in an effort to make herself useful, she read up on the ‘History of Mystic Falls’ to see if it holds any record of a White Oak cut down in Mystic Falls; after all - those trees were incredibly rare - no doubt because of the careful Mikaelsons. So far, the book was a very dry read, but information about the tree aside, it seemed that the current serial killer wasn’t the only one in the small town’s history.

Apparently, there had been a small string of murders about a century ago - the killer was never found. 

Nik had asked her the night before if she could trace the tree in anyway at all, but Annalise had come up disappointingly short. Sure, she could ‘feel the magic’ in nature, but she wasn’t able to sense if a certain tree in Mystic falls had _more_ magic than another – that was like trying to find a specific needle in a pile of needles only using her sense of smell – and the needle only smelt slightly stronger than the rest. 

The task was about as impossible and inconceivable as it sounded. It hurt her brain.

Sure landmarks, supernaturals – things that _contained_ more magic than nature in general were bright lights on her radar, but what happens when the thing she wanted to find _was_ nature?

At least Rebekah’s hunt had been slightly more fruitful than hers afterwards. When Rebekah had come home last night after a day of sleuthing, she revealed to Nik and Lis that the tree _had_ been cut down, and that the Salvatores had owned the logging mills at that time. How convenient. 

The thought of them reminded her of the fact that a Bennett witch had died due to their miscalculation a few nights prior, despite her insistence that distance would have been enough to weaken Esther’s spell. There had been a reason Esther had told them to stay at the Old Witch House, practically under her feet down in the basement.

It had been a pointless waste of life.

Today, Rebekah had decided to leave early to go talk to Mayor Lockwood again; seeing as the Salvatores had been wary to offer too much of any information the day before, this time at the Wickery Bridge. Apparently, it was undergoing a restoration, making it safer or something. Lis decided to tag along this time; the house seemed jarringly quiet and empty after having the entire Mikaelson family there for a couple days.

The refreshment table were set up a few metres away from the bridge, to the side – that’s where Annalise had contently made her temporary home while Rebekah had gone up to the Mayor once again to talk about the town’s archives. She offered her friend a small cupcake as she walked back over to Lis with a scowl after her visibly disappointing conversation, before popping it into her mouth when it was waved away distractedly.

“That mayor is useless, she can’t even get me record of the logging mills – she says I’ve got to go directly to the source.”

As Lis nodded sympathetically, a familiar leather jacket in the crowd caught her eye. She nudged Rebekah before gesturing to the other end of the bridge. “Well, there’s your source right there, talking to that tall red head.”

Rebekah squinted at the pair and swore, making Lis raise her brow at her friend in faint surprise. "I didn't know Damon pissed you off that much." 

“It's not him." Rebekah scowled, eyes still stuck on the pair. "That tall red head is _Sage._ She was a commoner obsessed with Finn back before he was daggered. No doubt she’s back to sink her dirty little talons into him again.”

The Original stormed in the direction of Sage and Damon with a huff, Annalise sighed in annoyance before slightly jogging to keep up with her long strides. Damn the Original’s tall genes.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Rebekah crossed her arms with a slight smirk playing on her face as she strode up to the conversing pair. Damon flashed a glance at Lis who was biting into another mini cupcake, before gesturing to Sage, moving closer to her side. “Easy there, Rebekah. You know, she used to beat men for sport.”

“Badass.” Lis said before taking another bite, drawing a small smirk from Sage, shrugging after Rebekah sent her a scathing glare which said ‘ _Who’s side are you on? Don’t compliment the trash, Lissie’_

Rebekah turned back to Sage, not looking half as impressed as Lis did. “She always was quite common.”

Sage looked unimpressed at Rebecca's insults as she replied graciously. “Rebekah. What a happy surprise.”

“What are you doing here?” 

“I heard Finn was freed from that casket your rage-aholic brother Klaus carted him around in.”

“Hmm, Finn. He just left town and didn’t tell a soul where he was going.” Rebekah’s smirk widened at her realisation that she currently had the upper hand.

Her jab didn't seem to throw Sage off for long, however, but she recovered quickly, smiling. “He probably went looking for me.”

Bekah let out a little laugh. “Or quite possibly he forgot all about you.”

Lis had to hand it to the woman; the redhead seemed insanely self-assured as her smile didn’t drop one bit as she answered the spiteful Original. “I doubt that.”

“No?” At Sage’s sure shake of a head, Rebekah delivered the final blow. “Because he didn’t seem to mention you. Sorry you came all this way for nothing. Have a nice life.” With that, Rebekah turned away and stalked off, back in the direction of the refreshments table. Annalise raised her eyebrows and sent a small smile at Sage.

“Hi, uh...I’m Lis. You’re Finn’s old girlfriend?” The red head narrowed her flinty blue eyes warily but nodded slightly.

“That’s good to know. He didn’t actually mention you, but then again, he did seem pretty busy being hellbent on destroying himself and his family." Lis shrugged with a quick grin. "You know how it is. Anyway, I was hoping maybe you could help on that front.”

Sage quirked a brow, tilting her head in slight confusion. “You’d ask for my help?”

Lis nodded, stuffing her hands into her jean pockets. “Sure, why not? Love is a pretty powerful motivator. You’d be seriously useful.” The small woman turned to leave before turning around again with an uncomfortable look, “Just quickly though, before I leave – I’d be careful around this one.” Lis pointed at Damon, who widened his eyes trying to look innocent. “I told him that he didn’t have to hurt someone to help the girl he cared about, but he did it anyway, just to be _sure_ she wouldn't get hurt. He’s in it for love too, and his love is in danger 'cos of your love’s family. The whole thing’s complicated but uh…point is; keep an eye on him.”

Damon held a hand to his chest in mock insult. “You hurt me. I thought we were friends, Glinda.”

Rolling her eyes and not deeming that comment worthy of a reply, Lis jogged back over to Bekah, going to the opposite side of the table to grab herself a cup of lemonade. She took a sip and instantly grimaced. “Jeez, Americans use _way_ too much sugar.” At the silence that followed her statement, she looked up and saw Rebekah moving a hand along the table in quiet thought. “What’s up Bekah?”

“I needed Damon alone to grab the milling ledgers from his house," The blonde scowled at the table as she whispered, "but I can’t do that while _desperate_ Sage is with him.”

Glancing behind Rebekah, she raised her brows. “Well, don’t count your chickens yet, Bekah. Incoming.” She sipped at the lemonade as Damon walked up behind Rebekah, uncomfortably close. Annalise smirked at her friend feigning apathy as Damon brushed up behind her.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re sexy when you’re bitchy?” Lis stifled a smirk, looking away awkwardly as Rebekah remained unbothered.

“We’re talking now, are we? You were quite rude the other day; using me to help you with Stefan, then shooing me away like a stray dog.” Lis used her lemonade cup to hide her chuckle – Rebekah had caught her up on the other aspects of yesterday, the stuff that Nik wasn’t privy to; and while Lis didn’t fully endorse this new way of teaching Stefan control – and she let Rebekah know that she thought so too - it _was_ fun gossiping the night away with Bekah in the privacy of her room.

Damon pouted dramatically. “Aw, but that was brother business. You can’t hold that against me. Besides, I really did appreciate your help, even if I didn’t show it.”

Rebekah started moving slowly down the side of the table away from Damon. “You were mean.”

Damon was quick to follow. “You like mean.”

Lis saw indignation in Bekah’s gaze as she turned around to finally face the handsome vampire. “No, I don’t.”

He raised his brows in disbelief. “No? You didn’t get a thrill back there pushing Sage down? Crushing her dreams of true love?”

“Maybe a little.” Rebekah couldn't help the vindictive curve to her lips as her eyes sought out Sage in the crowd.

“See? Mean.” Damon moved closer to her and lifted a flirty brow. “Can Sage and I interest you in a drink back at the house?” Now Lis was starting to feel like a major third wheel...or was it fourth? Fourth wheel for a functioning tricycle? Does that even make sense?

Annalise sipped at her drink uncomfortably.

Rebekah was the opposite – looking composed and unbothered, she lifted her chin and flashed Damon a cold smile. “Not a chance in hell.”

Damon had yet to take his eyes off Bekah. “You know what they say; two’s company, three’s a party.”

A loud cough made the flirty pair look at a bright-red choking Lis. “Sorry, the lemonade went down the wrong pipe. Continue, don’t mind me. Please.” Her voice cracked.

Dismissing her, the pair went back to their intense eye contact. “Fine.” Damon leaned over Rebekah to put his cup of lemonade on the table, making sure to skim his hand along her arm and stomach sensually before whispering lowly in her ear. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Passing both girls a cocky smile he sent a salute in Lis’s direction “You’re invited too, witchy.”

Lis spluttered with wide eyes. “I- what? No. Why?”

“’Cos you’re cute, Aggie Cromwell. Like a nerdy innocent-but-feisty kinda cute. Yum. The offer stands for the both of you.” He winked at her before leaving, smirking at the red-faced stuttering small woman he left behind.

After taking a quick moment to compose herself once more, she turned to look at Rebekah, still standing where Damon had left her, staring at the empty space her just vacated with a considering but slightly vulnerable look. “Bekah? You good, or are you still recovering from Damon Salvatore’s excessively intense PDA?”

The blonde’s eyes snapped to hers, still slightly distracted – “Come on, we aren’t going to get more information here, let’s go home.”

She chose not to mention Rebekah’s unsure tone and complete avoidance about what had just happened.

-

It was late evening now and Rebekah had been distracted the entire day. Soon after reaching home, she had holed herself up in her room, so Lis had made herself comfortable in her favourite home library armchair and continued reading the large book detailing the town’s history. She had yet to finish it, and yes, it was as dull as watching paint dry, but at least it was informative. She had no clue where Nik had disappeared to; her best guess was that he was currently putting all his Hybrids on high alert to locate the white oak three and then coming up with a billion contingencies.

Curse his paranoid genius mind.

Lis was debating whether getting up from her comfortable chair to make herself a cup of coffee was worth it, when she heard heels click down the stairs and saw Bekah dressed up, walk into view holding a bottle of wine. Rebekah paused in front of her. “I’m going to the Boarding house; I could use the invitation as a cover to get more information on the mills there. You coming?”

Lis scrunched up her face. “Nah, not into foursomes, sorry. I learnt that lesson like a year ago. You go have fun though.”

Rebekah’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “What do you mean you learnt that lesson? I thought you said you’d never had a lover before? You can’t just casually drop that in a conversation Lissie!”

Lis snorted and rolled her eyes, waving a hand to dismiss her line of thought. “I didn’t say I _participated_ Bekah, all I knew was that a bunch of witches were planning to do like a summoning spell, I wanted to watch and learn y’know, before I realised it was a full-blown magical orgy of sorts. Being as devastatingly chill as I am, I lost my cool and decked it the hell outta there. I’m an insanely socially awkward person to begin with – I don’t want to be a total wet blanket while you’re trying to get it on.”

Rebekah blushed slightly but looked away, exasperated. “I’m not going to _get it on_ as you so eloquently put it. I’m going for information.”

She sent the blonde a saucy wink. “Sure Bekah. I hear you. Then you’re gonna have to dish all that _important information_ as soon as you get home, ‘kay girl? Have fun~”

Lis called out to her embarrassed friend as she turned and hightailed it towards the front door. “Use protection! Safe sex is the best sex!”

The echo of the front door being slammed shut answered her yell, making her giggle before going back to her boring history book.

-

Annalise was getting ready for bed when Rebekah finally called her. Apparently, this whole night had been orchestrated by Sage and Damon to get Rebekah vulnerable enough to see her thoughts – that was wrong on _so_ many different levels. But she didn’t have the time right now to get into it.

That’s because Sage had apparently turned to their side after finding out from Damon that the entire underside of the Wickery Bridge had been made of White Oak...that actually made a lot of sense; it was probably why the Bridge felt strange and super supportive when she had stopped Stefan from driving Elena over off it. Well – more magically supportive than a normal non-magical bridge that is.

Anyway, Sage obviously wanted any weapon that could kill Finn gone; so both her and Rebekah were at the bridge right now, gathering all the white oak beams. Lis blipped to the now familiar Bridge to meet up with the two unlikely allies. She nodded to Sage, who had managed to pile all the wood in the middle of the road, and watched as Rebekah made her way over to the pair from the other side of the bridge through the metal construction beams and the bright orange traffic cones. She had been looking for any other beams that they might’ve missed.

“There isn’t any more White Oak left on this Bridge. How are we getting rid of that?” Rebekah gestured at the huge pile of pale wooden beams.

Lis wordlessly lifted her hand towards the pile in reply and muttered “ _Ardeo._ ” The large pile of wood was abruptly engulfed in white flames, in imitation of a large bonfire. Sage lifted an impressed brow.

“Handy trick.”

“It is. That flame eats everything – not even ash is left.” Lis turned to look at Sage as Rebekah walked to stand next to Lis, staring at the bonfire. “Thank you for telling us.”

Sage nodded but looked away. “I was tempted not to. Damon said he’d leave Finn alone.”

Lis cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “Well that’s a huge loophole, if I ever saw one. What he conveniently didn’t tell you was that right now; all the siblings are linked to each other – which means if one dies…”

“…All of them die. Including Finn. I know, I saw it in Damon’s mind. That’s why I helped.” Sage finished her sentence grimly and turned to leave.

Lis nodded back at her in goodbye before turning back to face the fire. Rebekah hadn’t made a sound yet, so she settled to watch the white flames devour the wood silently next to her friend.

Less than a few minutes later the sound of a car squealing down the road in panic reached their ears. Both girls turned simultaneously to watch Damon yell in anger as he hurled himself out of the recklessly parked car in their direction, eyes locked on the burning pile of un-salvageable wood. As always, Rebekah was quick to feast on his failure.

“Your grand plans always seem to get ruined, don’t they?” Her smile was slight, but self-satisfied, as the blonde faced Damon in his signature leather jacket staring hopelessly into the pale wood on fire behind them. “Sorry to disappoint you...again.”

Annalise thought Rebekah’s smile felt wrong – it almost had a sad, betrayed quality about it. She felt angry on behalf of Rebekah for what had happened to her tonight. Damon had crossed the line – no, he had stomped all over it. Rebekah sauntered away but Lis lingered, causing Damon’s attention to shift to her, eyes angry.

She didn’t give him the chance to speak up. 

“I thought I told you that you’d all be safe while you don’t poke the bear – or the millennia old vampire family in this case; which is infinitely more dangerous. Going after the one thing that can kill them, _after_ you take _advantage_ of a girl in a vulnerable position – damn, Damon. I thought you were supposed to be _smart_ and like; halfway decent. I was clearly wrong. You had _no_ right to do what you did – no right at all. _”_

Finishing off her statement with a disappointed glare and an angry shake of her head, she jogged to Rebekah’s side and teleported the both of them home in an instant.

Rebekah had decided to crash in Lis’s room for the night – they had talked for a long while about failed relationships, and it had been emotional before they had fallen asleep in her bed.

Rebekah might have acted strong the entire day, but the way her thoughts were callously violated after wanting companionship had really affected her – and it showed subtly. The blonde had put up a brave face, but eventually when Lis just hugged her for a moment, she hadn’t missed the slight waver in the girl’s voice, the shiver that racked her frame and the reddened eyes that looked towards her after they separated from their hug.

As she burrowed deeper into the comforter, carefully, so as not to disturb the sleeping girl curled up behind her, her last thought was how the moonlight felt strangely foreboding of pain yet to come.

Something big was coming. This was just the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda disappointed at how these last two chapters turned out guys - but thanks for sticking it through! I'm still trying to find my writing bearings, but I promise I'm trying hard to improve bit by bit!!  
> I've got a lot planned :)


	18. Murder of One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the Sunday update!  
> Enjoy!

**"Text message"** format

 _"Spell."_ or emphasis...depends if its in another language or not lol. :)

Annalise went through her mental checklist whilst getting ready for the new day.

The white oak tree debacle was solved – pretty clear cut. Rebekah got all the white oak on the bridge last night; her friend was confident about it. Next up: unlinking the Original siblings. She had gotten vials of blood from everyone except Finn – him and Esther were still in the wind. She could try to track them today, maybe perform a scrying spell. 

She paused brushing her hair...speaking of absent Originals – Kol still hadn’t reached out to her despite him leaving nearly a week ago. Maybe she could do a quick scry on him too, just to make sure he hadn’t gotten into any trouble. Annalise made her way downstairs walking past Rebekah’s room. Bekah had woken early this morning – it was her leaving that woke Lis up; it had been around half past six in the morning. She hoped her friend was fine, but honestly? Rebekah was now in her anger stage – she hoped that meant Rebekah kicked Damon’s butt for what he did to her.

Her phone buzzed on the countertop while she was busy making her coffee. She grabbed the warm mug in her hands and looked at the caller. Huh, strange.

“Hey Elena, what’s up?” She leaned her hip against the countertop and sipped at her coffee, holding the phone to her ear.

“Hey, Lissie, uh…are you free now? The last few days have been less than ideal, and I just want to talk to someone about it.”

Annalise was nodding before she knew it. “Yea, yeah for sure, Elena. Where are you?”

She could hear Elena sigh in relief. “Thanks, uh…I’m at the grill right now. Near the back entrance.”

“Perfect. See you in a sec.”

She hung up and texted Rebekah and Nik really quickly, letting them know that she’s going to be out for a bit, before grabbing a jacket and teleporting to the familiar back alley behind the Mystic Grill. Annalise walked in and was immediately greeted by Elena at a small table to her left. She placed her coffee mug on the small table while she grinned the girl opposite her. 

“Elena, what did you wanna talk about?”

The tall girl managed to curl in on herself until she looked impossibly small and cross her arms on the table. Lis waited looking on worriedly until Elena collected herself. “I, uh…remember the serial killer?”

Annalise’s brow lifted but she kept her sarcastic retort to herself. Instead she just nodded.

“Yeah, turns out it’s Alaric.”

Lis squinted at Elena before grinning unsurely. “But I healed him...from a _stab wound_. Remember?”

Elena let out a deep sigh and tiredly rubbed at her eyes. “Yes, I remember Lissie. That was to put us off track. Turns out, every time he died and was brought back to life by my family ring, he went a little insane. Now he’s got this dark alter ego that’s hell-bent on killing corrupt council members.”

Annalise exhaled slowly, leaning back on her chair. “Oh shit, that’s _screwed_ up. How long have you known?”

Elena fiddled with her hair. “Um… a couple days now. We tried taking off the ring, but he can still turn into the evil Ric without it. He tried to hurt Meredith the day before.”

Annalise crossed her arms in thought. “How did you figure out that it was the ring that was driving him insane? How do we know it wasn’t something, someone, else?”

Elena nodded, sitting up and reaching into her bookbag, bringing out two worn journals before setting them down squarely in front of Lis, inviting her to look at them with a quick gesture. “The rings were passed down to us – these are our ancestor’s journals. Samantha Gilbert documented her deterioration to crazy, her killing spree, her blackouts, everything – she died in an insane asylum.”

Lis had picked up a journal and flipped through the pages as Elena spoke, her brow raising higher as she saw the neat cursive writing rapidly worsen until the last page was filled with desperate scribbles. “Damn, okay – I think I actually read about that recently. 1912, right? The serial killer was never found." Annalise tilted her head, trying to think through the situation. "It’s just, when I was trying to heal Alaric after he was hit by Tony, I didn’t feel anything malicious from the ring – but I did feel something keeping him in a death state _until_ he was fully healed. This all sounds like a witch thing if you ask me. How is he right now?”

As Lis deposited the journal into Elena’s hands, Elena busied herself placing the books back in her bag. “Ric’s fine, Bonnie’s done a spell to keep the alter ego away, she gave him herbs to maintain it. Damon decided to keep a closer eye on him, and I’m here picking up some chocolate muffins to give them later.” The teen tucked her long hair behind her ear, turning her curious eyes back at Lis. “What did you mean by witch thing?”

Annalise shrugged, taking a sip of her cold and forgotten coffee. She grimaced and heated up the coffee with a quick spell while she answered Elena. “You said he’s killing council members that aren’t doing their jobs, right?” Elena nodded, prompting her to continue. “Well, that’s why I think this sounds like a witchy vendetta – if the council doesn’t do their job properly and keep the local safe, it falls to the witches to supernaturally maintain the balance, right? This might be an insane witch’s way of dealing with things. Do you know who made these rings? Could they have cursed the jewellery?”

Elena shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Emily Bennett spelled these rings for Jonathan Gilbert and my father. They were fine for all the years they wore their rings, and so was Alaric. Bonnie’s mum said that dying multiple times and coming back must have weakened him to a point where he developed and alter ego.”

Lis leaned her chin on one hand and hummed in thought. “Yeah, that sounds plausible. Dying definitely would have severe side effects – it’s just that an alter ego wouldn’t just occur unless Alaric strongly feels that way deep down – I don’t think he would though.”

“Yeah. He isn’t above breaking the law to keep us safe. He wouldn’t secretly hate himself for that. He saves people no matter the consequences.” Elena agreed.

There was a lull in conversation as both girls were lost in thought. Lis was sipping at her reheated coffee mug once more when she suddenly squinted at Elena. “Wait, you mentioned Bonnie and her mum. Are they both fine? I could’ve sworn one of them died the other night.”

Elena’s eyes grew downcast. “Yeah, uh…you’re not wrong. Damon killed Bonnie’s mum. She’s a vampire now. Bonnie was upset at me because of it.”

Lis’s frown deepened. “Jeez, Damon’s seriously starting to piss me off. Killing a witch is one thing, but turning them? Taking their magic away? That’s arguably worse. That shit changes people. Not to mention what he did yesterday to Bekah – he’s gonna end up in a ditch somewhere, and honestly, I wouldn’t mind too much.”

Elena huffed lightly. “Yeah, he tends to have that effect on people.” She was cut off when a waiter came by their table and dropped of a brown bag of chocolate muffins straight from the oven. Elena stood up, grabbing her bag and the muffins after a quick thanks to the waiter. Lis followed close behind as she lead them towards the back door.

“Look, uh…I can’t promise results, but I’ll try to do some research about Alaric’s situation. Just, don’t do anything stupid like come after the Originals again – it really won’t end well for you guys. Nik’s getting annoyed. So am I, to be honest.”

Elena flashed her a frown. “So what, Lissie? I should just put up with Klaus like a distant relative I hate? Let him threaten me and my loved ones whenever he feels like it?”

Lis closed the backdoor gently shut behind her before facing Elena. “That’s not it, Elena. But what your friends are doing? That’s making everything worse. You guys are agitating them.”

The taller girl was already scowling at her well before she ended her sentence. “So you’re telling us to just take it?”

Annalise was shaking her head tiredly. “You know that’s not what I mean, Elena. I’m just saying he isn’t as bad as you guys are making him out to be. He isn’t the enemy here. This won’t end well for you guys, trust me. You’re just escalating things.”

Elena’s scowl worsened in disgust. “I really thought you were different, Annalise. I thought you hated what he stood for. Now, you sound just like one of them. Me? _My friends_? We’re not gonna stop until everyone’s safe, and they’re all gone. _Count on it_. And when the time comes, if you’re with them, you lose too.” 

With the parting blow, Elena tuned on her heel and stormed away in a huff, leaving Lis alone in the dark alley way. She sighed tiredly, rubbing the bridge of her nose under her glasses and threw back the last bit of her coffee like a shot.

Annalise understood where Elena came from – she _really_ did. If there was anything threatening her loved ones – she wouldn’t hesitate to make sure they were safe at any cost. Her biggest regret was that she had just said to Elena what every single adult had said to her when she was growing up; when she was trying to figure out what she was, and _who_ she was. _Don’t make too much noise, don’t ask questions, don’t fight the system. Just take it_.

This sickened her – but the circumstances were different weren’t they? She truly hoped they were. She was just looking out for Elena and her loved ones’ best interests. She leaned her head back against the wall deep in thought.

Lis had only known the Originals for a relatively short amount of time – so why on earth was she so adamant about defending them? Were they worth it? 

Her phone buzzed. Speak of the devil – Nik had texted her that he needed her in the study right now. Annalise shook her head and blinked there in the next second. 

Nik was leaning over a large map spread out over the ornate desk in the downstairs study. Rebekah was boredly inspecting her nails, relaxed on the small couch. Both gave her a short but genuine smile as she popped into existence in front of them. She smiled back reflexively and moved closer to the pair.

Yeah, they were worth it.

Nik glanced at her once more, looking carefully in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Lissie?” He stood up from the table as she tucked her loose hair behind her ear.

“Nothing, uh…I just had a conversation with Elena – Alaric apparently has a serial killer alter ego.” Nik smirked at her as Rebekah stood to join them around the map.

“Well, killing could be a healthy outlet for that self-righteous man – but what’s gotten _you_ all troubled?” Nik crossed his arms, looking at her closely.

She mirrored his stance and flashed him an unsteady smile. “I – uh…told them to stop coming after you guys just one too many times and she chewed me out a bit. I deserved it.”

Rebekah huffed angrily with her hands on her hips. “As if Elena was ever the paragon of good judgement – Lissie, I doubt you deserved it. You’ve been nothing but a saint, just _wait_ until I get my hands on that _bitch-”_

Annalise giggled as she moved over to Rebekah’s side, wrapping an arm around her waist in a side hug, before she looked back at Nik. “Anyways, what did you need me for?”

Nik grinned at her and gestured at the map. “I think it’s time we found my brother – don’t you think? Especially since Sage showed up.”

Lis nodded, reaching out to grab presumably Finn’s shirt that Nik offered her. “Yeah, I was just thinking about that this morning.”

She stepped away from Bekah and towards the map, laying one hand face down firmly pressed against it, and the other holding Finn’s shirt tightly. “ _Volo in venire.”_

A tall city flashed before her eyes, lit lampposts and dead trees lining the crowded main road. A tall man walked peacefully amongst the pedestrians – Finn. Passing a small bar on the corner of a street, he turned right. There! 

A slight hiss and the smell of smoke permeated the air. Opening her eyes, Lis joined Nik and Rebekah in leaning closer to the map. A burn mark had appeared on the map a couple towns over from Mystic Falls – more specifically – in Downtown Atlanta. Nik grinned. “Time for some good old-fashioned Southern Hospitality.”

-

Fortunately, Annalise and Nik had visited Atlanta what felt like decades prior, (but was only a bit more than a couple months ago), back when they were looking for hybrid minions for Nik’s army. As a result, Lis was able to teleport the three of them to a back alley behind this cute café that she had once frequented in a heartbeat.

As Nik went to walk out of the alleyway, Lis grabbed his arm. “Wait a sec, just lemme look for him.” 

Closing her eyes and widening her senses, she looked for a magic signature resembling Rebekah’s burning brightly next to her. Nik was a hybrid – so he was pretty unique.

It took her a few moments to narrow down on his location – it was also fortunate he was alone; Esther hadn’t showed up on her magic radar at all. That meant she was hiding; that in turn meant there was no doubt that it was Esther who convinced the haunted house witch spirits to block and mute her senses back when Lis had been searching for the missing caskets.

She opened her eyes and grinned brightly at the pair in front of her looking at her expectantly. “Found him! Two streets down and to the left, passing in front of a flower boutique. No Esther in sight.” 

Nik grinned at her before blurring off out of the alley, while Rebekah moved closer to her, linked arms, and led her out at a normal pace. “I don’t think I’ve thanked you for how handy you are, Lissie. You’re like an ace up our sleeves.”

Annalise rolled her eyes and grinned at Rebekah, turning them in a different direction. She had felt Nik’s signature meet up with Finn’s and lead him their way. This small side street was a shortcut – it would put them directly in front of Finn if he continued on this path. Bekah didn’t question Lis’s decision and let her lead the pair through the light crowds. “Thanks Bekah. That’s how every girl wants to be described. 'Handy'. Oh, I’m about to pass out from the sheer amount of praise.’

Rebekah snorted and smacked her arm. “You know what I mean, Lissie. No witch will ever compare to you.”

“Duh. That’s 'cos I’m not a witch, Bekah.”

Rebekah smacked her arm again. “Just accept the compliment Lissie!”

“Fine, fine! Jeez.”

Neither she nor Rebekah startled when Finn suddenly ran into their path - his blurred speed halted suddenly, bringing him into focus. 

Rebekah jutted a hip out and raised a brow at her eldest brother who was glancing between the two girls unsurely. “Let’s not make this any worse than it has to be, darling brother.”

Finn frowned at her in anger. “You’re siding with him? Rebekah, he stored us in boxes!”

Annalise watched Rebekah put her best bitch face on. “At least he’s not trying to make us extinct.”

A short giggle drew both Finn and Bekah’s attention to Annalise. “I think she got you there, Finn.”

Finn went to reply with a scowl before he felt air displace the spot behind him. He twirled around to face a smirking Nik. “What are you gonna do? _Kill me_?” The sass was strong. Pity – Lis could’ve grown to like him if he wasn’t so bent out of shape about them being vampires.

Nik just grinned easily back. “Oh yeah, that’s right. You’ve got a death wish. Fine, pathetic...but fine. The thing is; I’m not gonna let you take the rest of us down with you.”

The hybrid grabbed Finn quicker than the eye could track, and threw him against the brick wall. He landed on the ground with a thud – unconscious.

Nik then looked at Lis expectantly.

She threw her hands up in the air. 

“Honestly, why even bring me at all? Oh, I know! I’m your own personal magical _chauffeur!_ Who cares if I can incinerate things and _blow_ people up? Nik doesn’t! He just puts up with me to reduce his freaking _carbon footprint_!”

Rebekah had dissolved into light laughter next to her, and Nik was looking at her fondly but tiredly during her tirade. “You done?”

Deep inhale. “Yeah.” She admitted sheepishly. 

The next moment, they were back in the foyer of the mansion. It was like a switch had been flipped and the small break they had from reality had ended. Rebekah was all business once again as Finn groaned lowly from the floor and picked himself up.

“Gather your witch. Lissie, get his blood, and let’s get on with it.”

Lis paused. “Gather your witch? Nik, since when do we have a witch?”

Nik shrugged. Rebekah rolled her eyes, electing to provide an answer instead. “It’s what he was doing yesterday. That Bennett witch is currently in our dungeons.”

Annalise narrowed her eyes in anger at the nonchalant hybrid. “What the hell Nik? We’re holding kids hostage now? Why on earth do you need another witch for? I’m perfectly adequate to carry out a simple de-linking blood magic spell.”

He rolled his eyes and smirked at her, ignoring Finn climbing slowly to his feet next to him. “Think of it as an extra precaution Lissie. Now, please – take Finn’s blood.”

Finn was quick to rebuke him. “You can’t force me to help you.”

Nik’s sharp smirk was now directed at his eldest brother. “Oh, I most certainly could. But, why force when I can persuade?”

In another dramatic gesture, Nik lifted his arm grandly at Sage who was descending the large stairs smiling gently at Finn.

Finn in turn, looked blown away.

“Hello Finn.” Sage reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Sage.”

Annalise watched Finn rush over to Sage, and grinned softly as they embraced. Rebekah rolled her eyes next to her in distaste. “What do you know, true love prevails.”

Nik received a text while he was replying to Rebekah. “It does occasionally have its uses. Easier than torturing him.”

Lis nudged them both distractedly. “Jeez, anyone tell you guys that you’re complete downers? And why would we torture him? All we need to do is stick a needle in him and grab some blood.” Nosily, Annalise leaned past Nik’s shoulder to look at who he was texting.

From Kol: “ **Let me know when I’m needed.”**

“ **I will.”** Nik replied.

Wait, Kol was texting Nik? Since when? Here she was, worried about him – while he was off on his own doing Nik’s bidding.

Right, okay. This was fine – that was his choice. She can’t force her friendship down people’s throats. She sighed dejectedly and moved away from Nik, her attention moving to Rebekah who was starting to walk away. “I have something to do. Do you need anything else from me?”

Lis shook her head slightly at Bekah’s question. “Nah, I got your blood, that’s all I need.”

Nik spoke up from next to her. “Wait, where are you going?”

Rebekah turned to face him with restrained anger clearly showing. “I have some unfinished business with Damon Salvatore. Ask Lissie and Sage what he did to me. Then you’ll understand why retribution is in order.”

She spun on her heel and exited the house – Annalise watched her leave sadly.

After Sage and Finn had talked for a few minutes, and joined her and Nik, Finn had willingly taken the vial that Annalise had handed him and filled it with his blood. While he was doing so, Nik had enquired further about what Rebekah had meant when she was leaving. Strangely enough, Nik’s face remained unmoved as Sage and Lis had explained to her what had gotten Rebekah so angry. Sage had also unashamedly owned up to being the one to initially think of taking advantage of Rebekah though – say what you will – but Lis was starting to respect her. To clarify; just for her honesty - not for her utter lack of empathy for Rebekah.

Finn and Sage left the mansion shortly afterwards, and Nik followed her silently as Lis went upstairs to grab the rest of the siblings’ blood. She sighed when he remained quiet. “I know you’re pissed. I am too. I didn’t think they’d do something so low – I should’ve gone with her.”

Nik stared ahead for a moment longer before his green eyes met hers. “She can handle herself. She’s always been too trusting, too loving.”

Lis ran a hand through her hair, frowning at him as they descended the stairs, the small case holding the blood vials in hand. “That’s not where this went wrong, Nik. The blame’s on Damon and Sage. Loving too easily isn’t a weakness.”

She followed as Nik lead her to a door she’d never been through before. He opened it, and started descending a darkened staircase. She heard his voice from in front of her. “It is a weakness in the lives we lead, Lissie. This’ll make Rebekah stronger – if I know my sister, she’s left to collect Damon, and make him pay.”

Lis paused, frustrated. “Wait, strong enough to do what, Nik? Strong enough to _torture_ and _kill_ someone? Is that what strength is?” 

Nik turned to face her with a grim smirk. “I _did_ say that it would be best if you get used to this life Lissie. It isn’t for the faint of heart.”

She scowled lightly and scuffed her foot, looking away. “And I said that I never will, Nik.”

Nik shrugged and opened large wooden door with a small barred window, briefly sending Lis into the past when she was kidnapped by Gloria. Her scowl deepened as Nik allowed out a shivering Bonnie from inside. 

Immediately, she put an arm over the girl’s shoulders and muttered a heating spell. Bonnie nodded in thanks. She looked back at Nik angrily as she lead the girl upstairs into the study. “What the _hell,_ Nik. I thought Bekah was joking about having dungeons. We didn’t need the poor girl at all.”

“Like I said – think of her as insurance. If she helps cast the spell, she’ll be allowed to leave, unharmed.”

The trio paused hearing chains and pained groans come from the dining area as they passed it to reach the study. Nik ushered them on.

Lis put the case carrying the five vials of blood on the large table and Bonnie moved over to the fireplace and started to warm her hands up. Nik left the room and came back shortly afterwards; Annalise would wager a bet he made a quick visit to look at whatever the hell Rebekah was doing in the other room with freaking _chains_.

Instead of spending too much time thinking of the possibilities, she busied herself by flicking through Esther's grimoire looking for the de-linking spell she had come across the other day – Bonnie had joined her and was pointing out alternative spells they could try.

Nik moved closer to the pair. “I should be hearing chanting by now Lissie.”

She rolled her eyes, still annoyed at him. “This is a process Nik; I need to make sure we get it right.”

Bonnie nodded in support. “Yeah, it’s a complicated spell – I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

Nik chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry little Bennett. Lissie is plenty strong enough for the both of you. No, you’re here because _your_ magic helped my mother link us.”

Lis furrowed her brow in thought. “Wait – that shouldn’t matter Nik, I’ve already thought about it. Esther used her own magic to link you that night, not anyone else’s.”

Nik shrugged at her. “I can’t take that chance, Lissie.” He pulled out his phone and quickly dials a number in before holding it up to face him. “Kol. How’s the weather up there in Mile High City? And how’s our friend? May I see him?” 

Lis froze as Nik brought the phone over to show her and Bonnie a live video of Jeremy playing with a dog. Bonnie looked suitably horrified.

Nik smiled smugly. “There’s Jeremy, playing fetch with his new puppy. Oh, isn’t that the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen?” He pulled the phone away from the girls, talking into it, “Thank you Kol, we’ll be in touch.” He hung up, turning back to Bonnie, grinning. “So, Bonnie; how about that spell?”

A sudden scream echoed through the house. Lis, having a pretty good idea about who it was, felt sick. Bonnie looked curious. “What was that?”

Nik dismissed her question, keeping a careful eye on Lis’s ashen complexion. “I wouldn’t let it bother you love.”

Bonnie scoffed. “Well, it does bother me. _You_ bother me. You use people, hell, you use _Lissie_ to get what you want, it’s not right.”

Nik moved threateningly closer to Bonnie in clear anger. “You’re being emotional, Bonnie. I understand things have been rough for you. You know, with your mother leaving. _Again_. It’s very sad. I can help you find her, if you want. I have people who can bring her back to you, Or, if you choose, I can just bring parts of her back.”

Lis had enough. She moved between Bonnie and Nik, and pushed him away. “That’s enough. Nik, stop. We’ve got everything we need. The sooner we get this done, the better.”

He nodded, looking at her closely, before moving away a few paces.

Moving around to the other side of the table, she grabbed a decorative chalice out of her bag and poured all the blood gently into it, muttering lowly the entire time. Bonnie looked on interestedly as Lis came back over to her side and held out a hand. As soon as she grabbed hold, the young witch gasped at the amount of power rushing through her into the chalice. 

Lis felt the familiar burn in her own eyes, and was surprised to see Bonnie’s eyes had taken on a silver tinge as well. Huh...vampires couldn't channel her, but witches _could._ That's right...Gloria had channeled her too – she mentally filed this information away to be explored at a later date.

Now chanting together, the witch and the other poured the combined blood in the chalice on to the bare table in front of them, watching it pool before separating slowly into five separate pools of blood moving away from each other – each distinctly carrying the energy of an Original. The flames in the fireplace flared up higher, casting larger shadows at the sheer amount of their combined residual energy.

Just as the spell was cast though, Lis choked out an excruciated gasp, wrenching her hand from Bonnie’s and disappearing into thin air the next second.

Nik was on his feet, and looking at Bonnie in shock. “What just happened?”

Bonnie looked shaken, using her hand to lean against the table, trying to collect herself. She stuttered, trying to put together her thoughts. “We- We- uh, we were still connected when we felt it – one of the energies just- just started disappearing. It- it _hurt._ ”

-

Lis had appeared in the _oh so familiar_ alley behind the Mystic Grill – drawn to the rapidly deteriorating signature – Finn. He was on his back, a stake in his heart burning into his soul. His screaming body was being cradled by a teary Sage, stroking his face. The dwindling energy of the Original _hurt_ her - Lis fell to her knees next to him, put her hands on his chest, and before she knew what she was doing, she was pulling, _willing_ Finn to hold on, to live. Sage let out a teary gasp in wonder as the grey lines of death started to slow, before _stopping_ all together.

Lis opened her silver eyes when she felt a large hand grip her glowing ones. Finn was looking at her in disbelief.

“Gaia?”

Lis choked; eyes wide. “What- I-”

Finn’s hand squeezed hers before moving to grip Sage’s tightly. His voice cracked. “You were right, Annalise, I’m the first to know. But you aren’t strong yet, little one. Let go, we will meet again.” 

Gently, he pried Annalise's frozen fingers from his chest, instead turning to Sage with adoration clear in his eyes. “I love you.”

All at once, it felt like she lost her grip, and his silvery soul _slipped_ straight past her fingers. The grey veins returned once more and devoured Finn’s body with vengeance – he was in ashes before Lis’s first tear fell.

Sage let out a loud wail and collapsed against the nearby wall while Annalise remained frozen, tears streaming down her face. It felt like there was an empty vacuum of space where Finn had just been. 

Robotically, she turned to face Sage – there was clear anger amidst her tears, but that’s not what Lis noticed. No...there was something different about the woman's presence...“You’re going to die soon.”

Her voice felt hollow to her own ears, and Sage looked at her for a long moment in fear, before her expression turned to one of strength and vengeance. “Best not waste my time them. Thank you, for what you did.” 

“It didn’t help though.”

Sage shook her head, helping Lis to her feet gently. “You did more than what I ever thought was possible. I find strength in his final words to me.” She smirked sadly. “Goodbye, Annalise, say hi to Finn when you see him next.”

The next moment, Sage had blurred away. Annalise took a moment to gather herself before teleporting back to the study – looking the same way that she had left it. Bonnie was gone. She felt Nik and Rebekah inside, along with another vampire – probably Damon.

She went in their direction – she ran into the siblings first. Nik was the first to notice her, but he hung back as Rebekah reached out to her worriedly. “Lissie, what’s wrong? Why were you crying?”

Lis recoiled at Rebekah _blood red_ hands on autopilot – it was presumably Damon’s – a look of hurt passed the blonde’s face. Nik watched on carefully. Lis rubbed at her swollen eyes under her glasses before waving a hand at Rebekah, cleaning her of all of the blood. How do you break this kind of news? Do you just rip off the band-aid? 

“I- I’m sorry. Uh…Finn. Your brother just passed. I’m sorry, I really am.” 

Rebekah and Nik stood silently for a moment, before Nik spoke up, moving closer. “How did this happen, Lissie?”

She sniffed. “I don’t know – when I got there he already had a stake in his heart – I managed to slow it down a bit-”

“You _what-”_

She didn’t pause at Bekah’s shocked exclamation. “But, I couldn’t stop it. That isn’t all though...”

Nik grabbed her shoulder gently. “What else, love?”

She bit her lip, thinking hard. “Sage was next to me. I don’t know why, but as soon as Finn died, it felt like the magic keeping her alive was slowly leaving too – I think she’s going to die soon.”

Rebekah moved closer, skeptical. “You think Finn dying would kill Sage? What; out of the _love_ she has for him or-”

Lis shook her head. “No, no. More like Finn was what was keeping her immortal – alive. When he died, she started dying too.”

Nik sighed and squeezed her shoulder before turning back to Rebekah. “This is a question for another time – right now, the scooby gang’s got their hands on the white oak stakes when you both burned the bridge, and I’d love to learn how.”

The three turned to face the direction of the foyer as they heard the large front door open.

“Klaus! I’m here! Let’s do this.” Stefan’s voice echoed from the dining hall. Nik raised a brow. “Speak of the devil.”

Lis silently followed Rebekah and Nik to where Stefan waited for them impatiently. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the large white tarps spread across the ground with Damon profusely bleeding and shirtless, hung in mid-air held up by two huge metal chains stretching from two opposite walls, attached to his wrists via viscous looking bear traps.

Annalise tasted bile at the back of her throat. Fortunately she was distracted when Stefan threw a large duffel bag on the ground in front of them, pale wooden stakes poking out it’s unzipped top.

“I’m here to make a deal.”

Damon shifted painfully – it took all Annalise had to not look at him guiltily again. “Stefan, what are you doing?”

Stefan ignored him, like everyone else in the room. “Eight stakes made of white oak. The part of Wickery Bridge you forgot to burn; the restored Wickery bridge sign.” Nik exchanged a look with Rebekah. Well...that was an oversight on their part.

Stefan kept talking. “If you want proof, Finn’s dead.” Lis exhaled shakily as Rebekah nodded her head.

“So we’ve heard – which makes me wonder how stupid you are to walk in here and give up the only weapon that could harm us.”

Stefan didn’t move his glare from Nik. “Damon - in exchange for the last eight weapons that can kill you.”

Nik moved closer to the younger vampire grimly. “And how do I know there aren’t any more left?”

“Because there aren’t.” Stefan replied quickly. Too quickly. Even Lis could clearly tell he was lying. Nik clearly felt the same as he walked over to Damon barely hanging on to consciousness. 

“Let’s be certain shall we?” He leaned into address Damon, looking directly into his eyes. “Leave.”

Lis looked away as Damon pleaded no. Rebekah crossed her arms apathetically. “Nik, he’s my plaything, not yours.”

She heard the jingle of chains and she looked back once more to see Nik had grabbed Damon by the throat and was looking into his eyes – much like when he had taken away Stefan’s free will once upon a time. “I said, go home.” 

Blood drained from her face and Lis felt lightheaded as she watched Damon comply to Nik’s demands and start to tear out his wrists from the snares – his flesh peeled, and he screamed in pain.

No, no. This was too far. 

“That’s enough! Please. What he did was _horrible,_ I’m not denying it, but this is _torture_.” Lis stepped up to Damon, unable to look away any longer. She scowled at Nik, flicking her wrists to vanish Damon’s bindings, and helping him down to the ground, slowly, muttering healing spells under her breath. Damon let out a relieved sigh. She felt Nik approach her from the side, so she held a single hand up in his direction, not even bothering to look, and made him freeze non-magically. She knew what she was doing. 

Crouching down to Damon’s level, she placed her flat palm against his chest and spoke. “ _Veritas._ You can only speak the truth for however long I hold this spell – doesn’t matter if you’re all vervained up – you _will_ speak the truth. Now tell me, how many White Oak Stakes do you have?”

Damon groaned, trying to look away, but the answer still escaped his lips. “Twelve. Eleven now - technically - minus the one that was apparently used to kill their brother with the stick up his ass.”

“Eleven, really! So not eight then.” She heard Nik scoff in disappointment next to her. 

Rebekah moved closer to the pair while Lis tried to heal the deeper wounds on Damon’s wrists and neck. “You really shouldn’t have lied.”

She heard panic and pleading enter Stefan’s tone as he replied. “I’ll get you the other three.” 

Annalise turned slightly to see Nik grin dangerously. “Yeah, that would be nice. Or, since you lied, maybe I’ll just compel your brother to chew out his tongue.”

She saw Stefan glance at her healing Damon. “I doubt your little witch would let you.”

Lis turned to him tiredly. “If you don’t bring those stakes over, I might just let him. I can always re-attach it. Don’t drag me into your little pissing contests, I’m reaching the end of my rope – trust me, you don’t wanna set me off.”

Nik chuckled, walking closer to Stefan. “What she said. Though every time she reattaches it, I get to cut it off again. So go on, bring us our stakes. Please.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with you?! Do you really have no appreciation for me? I have given you someone to hate, to loathe, a target for all your anger, so you don’t turn it on yourself. I have given your life purpose, as your friend.” He let out a short smug laugh. “I really think you should be _thanking_ me.”

Lis scrutinized Nik during his entire little monologue – all it was doing was setting Stefan off, but that wasn’t ideal at this point. Stefan was seriously close to snapping – if he did, and if he happened to have a white oak stake –

Stefan rushed at Nik with an angry yell, pinning him against the opposite wall, pale stake pressing into his chest. Nik just grabbed his wrist, grinning. Ah…smart plan – it made sense; Stefan would never walk into enemy territory for an exchange unarmed.

He gripped Stefan’s wrist tighter. “Step down, or you both die.”

Stefan slowly stepped away from Nik and surrendered the stake to a smirking Nik. “There, now you only have to get me the other two.”

“This is ridiculous.”

Rebekah chose this moment to walk over to Lis still crouched low in front of Damon – steadily recovering. All his wounds had now disappeared – he was currently replenishing his lost blood. Rebekah hauled Lis to her feet before doing the same to Damon. Lis steadied him gently.

Nik frowned at Bekah. “What are you doing?”

She rolled her eyes. “I brought him here. I get to release him. My rules now. Bring us the stakes and you both live. Take your brother as a sign of good faith.”

Turning on her heel, Rebekah plucked the stake from Nik’s hand, grabbed the duffel filled with rest of the stakes and walked out of the room.

Nik watched closely as Lis handed the weak Damon gently lean against his brother’s arms. His smirk was gone as he regarded the two brothers. “Bring us the stakes. All of them. Or I will wage a war against _everyone you love_. I hope I’m being clear.”

Lis watched him leave the room before turning to study the two brothers blur away into the distance. Sighing, she bolted the front door shut. Annalise then walked into the parlour where the two siblings were standing silently. Lis moved to collapse on the armchair to the side, curling up on it.

Rebekah was the first to break the silence. “I can’t believe Finn’s dead.” 

Nik huffed, leaning against the back of the chair Lis was curled up on. “Good riddance. He was an embarrassment, Rebekah.”

Rebekah turned to face him angrily. “He was still your brother. Mind your tongue.”

Crossing his arms, he sent her an annoyed look. “Fine. Let’s all say a prayer to Finn, who slept in a box longer than he lived as a man. He was a lovesick fool. He’s better off in death.”

Lis shut her eyes sadly as she heard Bekah’s footsteps walk closer to them. “Is that how you would speak of me if I died?”

She heard the smirk in his voice as he replied to his sister. “Well you let the Salvatores loose with two stakes that can kill us, so I guess we’ll find out soon enough. And since when did you have a soft spot for them?”

Annalise heard Rebekah tear up. “The Salvatores may fight like dogs, but in the end they would die for each other. At least they know what family means. You destroyed ours.”

She felt Nik stand up, and stop leaning against her chair. Hurt leaked into his voice. “I wanted a family. They just didn’t want me, and now we’re unlinked we’re no longer responsible for each other.” 

Rebekah’s voice was small. Lis teared up. “So you’re leaving?”

She heard Nik shift on his feet. “As soon as I get my stakes, I’m gone. I’m gonna take Elena and use her blood to create a new family – of hybrids.”

Rebekah’s voice was still low. “And if I choose to stay?”

“Then you’re just as pathetic as Finn.” She heard Nik’s footsteps recede away from the parlour, and felt like everything was starting to fracture. Rebekah sat and squeezed into the large armchair alongside her. Lis wrapped her up in a tight hug and felt her tears soak her shoulder. She held her tighter.

Annalise hugged the Rebekah for a while before starting to speak in a contemplative voice. 

“I don’t think Finn was pathetic – I think he figured out what I am.”

She felt Bekah shift in her arms. “And what _are you_?”

Lis shrugged, looking away. “I don’t know exactly yet. He just called me Gaia. He said that we’d meet soon. He was nice.”

Bekah sniffled and hugged her tighter. “If I stay, you’re leaving with Nik, aren’t you?”

Lis didn’t reply for a long moment. “Yeah, I think he needs me most.”

“But I need you too.”

“I’m not leaving you Bekah, not really. I’m always just a second away, remember?”

Bekah nodded into her shoulder.

It was quiet for a while before she broke it again.

“Lissie? Can I sleep in your bed again tonight?”

She wordlessly teleported the both of them into her room and fell asleep almost immediately. She hoped Nik was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooo...First little clue as to what Annalise might be!  
> This chapter turned out pretty good in my opinion, how did you guys like it?
> 
> Comments are really appreciated; even if it's just a quick note, a question, constructive criticism or even an emoji lol ;)  
> I'm having so much fun planning out this story...Thanks for reading!!  
> Until next time :)


	19. Heart of Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the lovely, lovely comments in the last chapter!!  
> This one was fun to write.   
> Not Beta read. Strong language.   
> Enjoy!

Lis couldn’t sleep – she had spent the entire night tossing and turning, before leaving to make herself a warm cup of coffee and curling up in her favourite armchair in the study downstairs. It was still dark outside; Rebekah was still fast asleep.

Only a few lamps lit up the room dimly, so the flames of the fireplace flickered brightly across the dark walls. She had her laptop (courtesy of Nik a few weeks ago) open on a reddit page, and another tab open on her magic community chat, fulfilling her promise to Elena.

She was asking about jewellery curses and dark objects from as many online friends as she could – it was easier to call herself a witch to gain their help. It was proving to be pretty useless so far...she had felt the Gilbert ring’s magic firsthand, she was sure it hadn’t _felt_ like a cursed object.

Right now, her working theory was that the ring was able to keep the body in stasis while healing it exceptionally fast, then calling the soul back to the body, acting as an anchor of sorts. Seeing as her magic couldn’t make the healing process faster – her hypothesis made sense in practice. As soon as someone puts the ring on, it most likely tethers their body to their soul – and if magic was involved at all in separating the soul from the body – meaning death - the failsafe would kick in.

That’s why the healing couldn’t be sped up from any external magic; it was a closed system.

However that didn’t explain why she wasn’t able to use that same tether to pull the Alaric’s soul back into his body, then again; she honestly wasn’t well-versed in death magics and operating in magic that transcended into the spiritual plane – that’s why she was chatting with an experienced practitioner of necromancy in the Andes.

Her attention was drawn to the glass dividing door as muffled footsteps approached it. Nik walked through tiredly and sat in the armchair opposite her, lazily pouring himself a glass of bourbon, haphazardly dropping a familiar duffel bag next to him.

She peered over her glasses in judgement.

“Seriously? Does this count as day drinking?”

He sighed leaning his head in his left hand propped up on the armrest. “You tell me love, it’s four in the morning. Why are you up?”

She balanced her laptop on her knees and reached for her coffee, throwing him a small smile. “I just...couldn’t sleep. I wanted to do something to take my mind off things, so I was researching Alaric’s condition.”

Nik smirked. “Ah, yes. The alcoholic vampire hunter turned serial killer. He’s much more interesting now, if you ask me.”

Lis grinned at him fondly, rolling her eyes. “That’s why I didn’t ask you, idiot. But seriously; something’s up and it’s bothering me. Wanna be my soundboard?” Nik sat up slightly, gesturing her to continue. “Well, I tried healing Alaric while he was in that death state – y’know? It didn't let me. Basically the ring acts as an anchor for your soul if you die a supernatural death – the magic is what activates it. It preserves and heals the body then calls back the soul when it’s done. That’s pretty straightforward – right?”

He nodded, focused. “So I was just chatting with someone online – unless an entirely separate spiritual plane was created for the soul to go to while the body is being healed, which I really doubt ‘cos that’s honestly _way_ too much trouble for Emily Bennett to go through to help a human, not to mention the insane amount of power it would take – the soul would cross the veil into the Other Side, then come back once it was called by the ring. No biggie. Only thing is, Alaric managed to develop a split personality that doesn’t reflect his inner beliefs at all.”

Nik tilted his head in thought. “An alter ego that kills corrupt council members – maybe it’s because deep down he hates himself. What about that doesn’t reflect his inner demons?”

“It raises red flags _exactly_ because of what you just mentioned. An alter ego is a different personality that dominates – but you’re still in control of everything, and you remember everything. Alaric has blackouts – amnesiac barriers when he becomes the _other_ him – that’s a split personality. It doesn’t reflect his beliefs at all – that’s because they aren’t able to incorporate their memories into making a decision they would normally make. So these split personalities have their own opinions, thoughts and actions. Most split personalities are also created out of major trauma – which brings me to the question - what exactly did Alaric endure while his soul was on the other side?”

Nik looked at her blankly for a long moment.

Lis shrugged, suddenly embarrassed and took a large gulp of coffee, hiding her face behind the mug. “I did a psych course once before dropping it halfway through the semester. It was interesting.” She said in a small voice.

It was silent for a while longer and Nik just chuckled. “Of course you did.”

She grinned back at him, before turning back to her computer. “Anyways – there isn’t much we can do for him. Best thing for him would be to talk things through, maybe some therapy. But honestly, I’m not sure how magic effects his condition. I just can’t imagine why a powerful spirit on the other side would ever want to mess with a vampire hunter. Surely witches would love anything that kills vampires.”

Nik was about to sip at his bourbon when he stilled. He slowly turned to face her again. “Lissie, when was the first death?”

The urgency in his tone had Lis typing: “ **Medical Examiner dead Mystic Falls”**

Her breath caught in her throat at the results that popped up.

“Uh…I- It’s the day Mindy died, and Stefan tried to drive Elena off the bridge.”

Nik got up and moved over to her, studying the webpage. “And this was when the spirits were blocking your powers as well? Wasn’t it?”

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, yeah it was.”

He sighed and swallowed the rest of his bourbon in one go, and started pacing. “Could this have been Esther, then?”

“I would say that it’s a definite probability.” _Shit._

Cursing under his breath, Nik sat down on his armchair again. “Right, so we keep an eye on the Hunter. I’ll do that today. I might take you with me.”

“Sure.” She nodded, closing her laptop and finished off her coffee. Nik studied her closely.

“How are you now? You were out of sorts after Finn yesterday.”

She brushed her hair back and gave him a tight smile. “Yeah, don’t think I don’t see you ignoring your feelings Nik. But uh… yeah I wasn’t expecting it to hurt, when he died – not to mention he kinda pulled the rug from under my feet.” Nik raised a brow. Lis looked away from his stare and exhaled shakily. “He uh…he called me Gaia. I wasn’t brave enough to ask any of my friends online what that meant yet.”

“I’ve never heard the term – then again, Finn was the most studious of us in terms of learning magic from Esther.” Nik moved closer to the fireplace leaning against it.

Lis frowned at the floor. “How did Esther not come to the same conclusion then?”

Nik thought for a moment. “Who knows, maybe Finn saw the aura that surrounds you when you used a great deal of power on his deathbed.”

Annalise narrowed her eyes at Nik, before lightly chuckling to dismiss the suddenly grim atmosphere. “Wow Nik, so poetic. Such art. Much wow.”

Scoffing he made her way over to her. “Shut up and get to bed. I plan on an early start tomorrow.”

Sighing, she uncurled from her armchair and stood, stretching her limbs. Annalise watched Nik grab the duffel he had discarded next to his armchair and place it in the lit fireplace. White oak stakes poked out of the unzipped bag. Wordlessly she flicked her wrist. The dim orange and red fire burst into white flames, before calming down to a controlled blaze again. The bag had been disintegrated, along with the stakes. Her mind had already wandered though. 

Her stare didn’t move from the flickering flames. “Finn said he’d see me again, Nik. Does that mean I’m gonna die?”

A familiar hand felt heavy on her shoulder as she felt him behind her. “Not if I can help it, Lissie. Go to bed.”

-

Lis did not in fact go back to sleep, but instead messed around and practiced magic silently in her room until it was an acceptable time to ‘wake up’ like a normal person. She waited until Rebekah had sleepily mumbled a good morning and left her room, got ready and washed up for the day.

Rebekah was in charge of organising a decade dance at the school today, Annalise politely declined to help, but promised to help with the final preparations in the morning on the day of the dance – she honestly couldn’t believe that the school had so many functions. Rebekah was a bit bummed, but understood the threat of Esther maybe being involved in Alaric’s condition and cloaking herself from Lis’s view.

She texted the both of them that she’s going to Elena’s house to talk about Alaric, and teleported to Elena’s front door. She knocked a few times before doing a cursory magical sweep of the house – there wasn’t anyone inside. Huh.

Annalise then teleported to front door of the Salvatore Residence, this time, she definitely felt Elena’s small signature, along with the two vampire brothers. She knocked loudly on the door.

Damon answered, barely opening enough to poke his head out. He studied her silently with his intense blue eyes before giving her a slow smirk.

“Thanks for yesterday, Miss Cackle, but uh…you’re not welcome here.” 

She rolled her eyes, leaning against the porch. “Elena told me to look into Alaric’s condition yesterday, I couldn’t find her at her home, so I came here.”

“She isn’t here.” Damon’s smirk was large.

“I can sense her behind you, Damon.” Lis deadpanned.

“Right.” He shot her a faux shameful face then opened the door a little wider, allowing Elena to move into the open doorway. Lis caught a quick glimpse of large packed suitcases behind them.

Annalise looked to Elena, raising a brow. “Going somewhere?”

“No, uh…No.” Elena sucked at lying. She chose not to comment. “What did you find out about Alaric?”

Lis sighed, crossing her arms. “Honestly, um, not much that’s helpful. What I can tell you is that he didn’t develop this by himself – some spirit messed with him while he was on the other side – I wasn’t able to confirm whether it was Esther or not, but uh – that’s our biggest suspect right now. Keep an eye on him.”

Elena nodded looking away shiftily. “Okay, um...yeah we are. He’s here now, locked up downstairs. Is there any way you can help him?”

Annalise shook her head sadly. “No, I haven’t found a way yet. As long as you keep maintaining Bonnie’s spell with her herbs, it should keep serial killer Alaric at bay. It’ll give me some time to search for more solutions. I just wanted to give you an update about the suspected origins of his conditions.”

Elena nodded, and shifted uncomfortably again. Lis crossed her arms and sent her a small smile. “And, uh…hey. I also wanted to apologise for what I said yesterday – I have no right to tell you how you should be reacting to Nik upending your whole life.”

The younger girl flashed her a quick smile. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I was rude too. Sorry.”

“No worries.” The two girls shared an awkward silence for a moment before both of them moved to leave.

“Right okay, I think Nik’s gonna be by later to pick up the stakes. I might tag along too, see you then.”

“Bye.” Elena shut the door faster than Lis finished waving.

Okay…That was odd. Someone was in a hurry.

She teleported back home, and walked over to Nik in his drawing room. “Hey, I think something’s come up.” He looked away from his phone up at her. “I just saw Elena at the Salvatores. She said Alaric was there too by the way. Anyway – uh, I just saw a bunch of packed suitcases by the door – could they be running away from you with the stakes?”

Nik exhaled lightly before going back to tapping on his phone. Lis crossed her arms and waited patiently. Nik frequently got into planning moods such as these.

It was a few minutes before he spoke again. “They aren’t running away, not when Alaric’s still in trouble and Caroline is at the school with Rebekah. No, I think Elena may be going to go pick up her baby brother now that she knows that Kol’s hanging around him.”

“Ah, right. Yeah. You were really horrible using him yesterday with Bonnie, you know that?” Nik gave her a quick smirk before turning back to his phone.

“When am I not? Anyway, be packed to leave to the airport in five please.”

Lis paused as she was walking out the door. “Um, why?”

“You might miss your flight, Lissie! To Denver. I just booked you a ticket, and a cab. It’s already nearly here, and your planes leaving in half hour. I suggest you rush.”

Lis turned on her heel, looking confused. “Okay, but why Denver?”

“Because that’s where Jeremy is, and Kol. Pick him up for me, will you? Chop, chop.”

Cursing under her breath she sent Rebekah a quick text, before packing her emergency toiletries and a couple changes of clothes, along with her airport-friendly little spell/potion ingredient kit in her duffel then appeared back in his room.

“I need the e-ticket, please.”

At the ring of her phone signalling she received mail, she flipped off a grinning Nik and ran out of the house and jumped into the waiting cab. She was honestly looking forwards to getting out of this small town - it was starting to wear on her. Maybe this could be a mini holiday of some sort. 

-

Annalise liked flying; the last time she had been on a plane was when she had come with her parents to USA from Australia, but even back then, she had latched on to how it felt rushing through the clouds at high speeds.

Call her crazy, but it felt calming. Lis was sad that this flight only lasted an hour and a half.

At the airport, she had briefly worried about bumping into Elena, but luckily, she wasn’t on her flight. Maybe this meant that Elena would arrive before her, or after her, or maybe she even chose another airline. Whatever the reason was, she was glad that she didn’t meet her.

It felt as if something had changed – as if Elena didn’t blindly trust her anymore, as if she had disappointed her. It was for the best...it really was. Annalise was glad. She was glad because it meant that what she had been saying since day one had finally sunk in. She wasn’t Elena’s ally. Sure she would help her, but not if it meant she was crossing Nik. It was best to let her down now, than further along in the road.

As soon as she had arrived in Denver, Nik had texted her Kol’s temporary address. After a brief taxi ride, she had arrived at an empty apartment – she let her senses flare out, ah…there he was. Annalise walked a few streets down from the house, to what were apparently batting cages for baseball.

She walked in, wondering how he was going to react to her after ignoring her for nearly a fortnight, but she halted at the body collapsed on the ground next to the entrance.

Lis rushed over and turned the body – Kol. He had half a wooden baseball bat sticking out of his chest, and a grey pallor to his skin.

Huh, so Elena got here first. Not too long ago though – Kol was just starting to recover from the wound.

Lis wrenched out the bat and decided to heal him up faster, laying a flat palm firmly on his chest and mumbling her favourite healing spell. Kol sat up gasping, trying to get his bearings. He must have just registered someone behind him, he turned to face her with a snarl, stopping and pausing halfway when he realised it was her.

She grinned at him widely.

“Hey stranger. We gotta stop meeting like this.”

-

Annalise and Kol had walked back to his apartment in relative silence. She wouldn’t call it awkward, but at the same time, Kol just wouldn’t meet her eyes.

She spoke up as they entered his flat, dropping her duffle near the sofa. “Alright, so why are you ignoring me?”

He shot her a perfected smirk. “I’m not ignoring you, Lissa. Why would you think that?”

She made herself comfortable on the small sofa, eyes trailing after him as he hung up his jacket and went to the kitchen counter to pour himself a glass of thick red liquid from a corked bottle. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it was when I gave you my number and worried when you didn’t call until I realised you had been talking to your family the entire time. Or maybe it was literally five minutes ago when you wouldn’t even look at me.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Sounds just a tad pathetic love. Are you always this starved for attention?”

She chuckled in good nature, rolling her eyes and throwing a cushion in his direction. “Oh, get over yourself. I was worried about you out in this big bad world alone.”

He lifted a hand to his chest in mock wonder. “Oh, you worry about poor little me? How touching.”

She squinted at him with a smirk, watching him sip at the blood casually. “Fine, see if I care anymore.”

Both their eyes moved to her duffle when they heard her phone buzz. She leaned over and answered, putting it on loudspeaker. “Hey Nik, I’m with Kol. He was skewered with a baseball bat when I got to him. No sign of Elena or Jeremy.”

Kol shot her a quick glare, before moving to sit next to her. “Not my fault, brother. I wasn’t expecting Damon to put up a fight.”

Lis tilted her head at Kol. “Damon was here?” He glanced at her and nodded, before both of them turned to the phone.

“So I just paid a quick visit to Stefan’s to see our resident serial killer. I found a stake, but Dark Alaric had apparently hidden the last one – they were waiting for him to pass out.”

“Yikes, ok, not great news.”

“It isn’t, Lissie. But this might make it better. Remember when you told me and Rebekah you felt Sage start to die as soon as Finn did?” Kol lifted an eyebrow at Lis interestedly when she answered in affirmative. Nik continued. “Well, Stefan just confirmed it for us. Sage died in front of them mysteriously. Killing one of us kills off our entire bloodline.”

Kol released a low whistle. “So the only thing that can wipe out an entire vampire line is currently with a psycho killer hell-bent on killing us?”

“Not to mention that he has a high possibility of being one of Esther’s little creations.” Lis helpfully butted in.

“Really?” Kol downed the rest of his glass in one go.

She nodded, wincing at him. “Yeah, really.”

They heard Nik sigh from the other end. “Point is, they’ve probably figured out that they need to be careful with who they target. They’re gonna start tracing bloodlines.”

Kol leaned closer. “The Salvatores were both sired by Katerina. And Katerina was sired by-”

“Rose, yes.” Nik completed Kol’s line of thought. “Since she’s dead, they’re going to try to figure out who sired Rose.”

Kol smirked. “Good thing I know who it was. Remember Miss Mary Porter, Nik? Fun little thing.”

Annalise leaned her forehead on her free palm. “That’s disgusting Kol.”

She was outright ignored. “She’s in Kansas at the moment. Reached out the moment she heard I was back in the land of the living.”

Lis could imagine Nik nodding at Kol’s statement. “Perfect. Go there, make sure Damon can’t trace her back to any of us.”

Annalise turned back to the phone. “Have you told all this to Bekah yet, Nik?”

“Yeah, I just got home. Rebekah!” They heard Nik call for his sister, but there was silence on the other end. Kol and Lis exchanged a glance.

Nik’s voice sounded far away, as if he had removed the phone from his ear to address someone else. “What’s going on?”

Rebekah’s voice sounded shaky in the background as it filtered through to their end. “She’s dead. Esther’s dead.”

-

Rebekah had explained that Esther had ambushed her in the Mikaelson mansion, and said that she was weaker, ever since Abby Bennett was turned into a vampire and her connection to the Bennett line was severed. Esther had then fallen to the ground...dead. The call had ended soon after with Nik and Bekah saying they’ll be at the Salvatores in case Alaric cracks, leaving Kol and Lis in silence.

“Does that feel a bit too easy to you? Esther’s spent this long hiding from me – no way she could’ve done that if she was as weak as she said she is.”

Kol stood up from next to her extending her his hand. “Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth, darling. My dear mother is dead, and I want to celebrate. Come on. We’re off to Kansas.”

Lis grabbed his hand and stood up, “I can teleport us to the inner city – I went there with Nik back when we were collecting hybrid minions.”

Strangely, she noticed his grip tighten as something dark flickered in his eyes, before he dropped her hand quickly, smirking. “Right, ready when you are, darling.”

Annalise gave him a quick grin before touching his arm lightly, teleporting them to Kansas. 

In the blink of an eye, the minimally, but kind of untidy apartment around them was replaced by the tall grimy brick walls of a dark alleyway. A cat yowled somewhere behind them as they appeared, and shot out of the small alley while Annalise stepped away and steadied Kol slightly. They had appeared on the outskirts of the city in between two tall buildings.

Annalise passes him a small smile as he bewilderedly gripped her steadying arm tighter. “I thought you said you were ready. Don’t worry about it, everyone gets disoriented when I teleport them for the first time, Kol." He nodded, finding his balance once more. Lis grandly swept an arm towards the city with a quick smile. "Lead the way.”

-

They were fortunately only a half hour’s ride to Miss Porter’s place; when they reached the old abandoned looking house in the middle of what felt like nowhere, Lis looked at Kol in judgement.

He shrugged, smirking widely. “What? At least she has good taste in men.”

Rolling her eyes in disgust, she shoved a chuckling Kol away, making her way to the old door. Before she could knock, a beautiful blonde opened it, zeroing in on Kol standing behind her.

“Kol! How are you? I’ve been waiting for you to visit.” Lis was shoved unceremoniously to the side as the girl kissed Kol loudly. Her arms were around his chest pulling him down and he looked like he was gladly reciprocating. Annalise scuffed her shoe awkwardly, looking especially concentrated on the small tuft of grass she was currently uprooting.

The couple's embrace ended, but they hadn’t stepped away from each other.

“It really had been too long Mary.” Kol smiled indulgently, leaning slightly away from her but making no move to step fully away and out of her hold. Mary giggled, running a hand down his chest flirtily.

Lis cleared her throat uncomfortably looking away once more. 

“Oh, that’s right, I almost forgot. We have something to discuss with you darling, before we get to the fun stuff. Mind if we join you inside?”

Mary stepped away and cleared her own throat before sending Lis a cursory glance and a smile. “Of course, join me inside. Kol, tell me – did you fetch us this delicious smelling little thing for later?”

“Yes, of course, darling.” Annalise grew bright red and spluttered while Kol threw a casual arm over her and walked her into the house behind Mary, squeezing her shoulders in warning to stay silent. “Always good to bring along a little present when visiting for a little favour, don’t you think?”

Lis tried to distract herself by looking at her surroundings – piles of dusty books and ornaments littered the larger rooms they passed. Damn okay...either Mary had just moved into an abandoned house, or she was a hoarder. She wasn’t judging though, there were worse types of people to be.

Mary lead them through into a room, definitely cleaner than most of the rooms they had walked past, with a bed in the corner, and much more recent trinkets and memorabilia scattered across the floor and table pushed to the opposite wall. She sat on the bed, patting the empty space at her side, inviting Kol and Lis to join.

Annalise, unfortunately, was sat in the middle, facing slightly away from the strange vampire behind her. Mary wasn't fazed however, and immediately moved Annalise's hair to the side and inhaled deeply in her neck, her hands settling around Lis’s waist, making her lean backwards against the woman behind her. She sent Kol a panicked look, eyes wide.

He gripped her hand and gave it a small squeeze, before starting to talk. “So, Mary, before we do move to dessert, I was wondering if you could possibly remember the night I we met – I find myself forgetting the details.”

“Of course, Kol, I’ve even got some old letters of our correspondence after that night.” Lis felt Mary shift behind her and stand up to go to the desk opposite them and bring out a pack of old letters, throwing them to Kol. “There you go, what, are you looking for specifically?”

Lis silently complied as Mary pulled her to her feet and twirled her around. The chunky boots she was wearing didn’t allow for a graceful spin, so she recovered awkwardly into a spin that found her in Mary's arms once more. Oh, save her from this hell. Kol stood too, flipping through the letters quickly. “No, nothing in particular. Just, these letters have you reminiscing about the night we turned you, do they not?”

Lis’s eyes widened in understanding as Mary nodded. Kol continued his line of questioning. “And there isn’t anywhere else you’ve documented that night, is there? No one you’ve told?”

Mary giggled from behind her, moving her hair to a side once more and tilting Lis’s neck to the side gently as she answered Kol. “No, not at all. The memories are ours alone. Now, shall we?”

Annalise gasped as she felt a sharp dig of a canine in her neck, unprepared, but before she could use her magic against the vampire, Mary was wrenched off her in a sharp burst of movement. By the time she turned around, Mary was impaled through her heart on a wall, a few feet in the air; already desiccated. Her breath stuttered, someone had just _died_ on her behalf - wait, there was something warm dripping down her neck.

Kol was in front of her in the next disorienting second, gently touching her neck with dark eyes trained on hers. “You alright, love?”

Lis gave him a quick shaky smile and a jerked nod before lifting a hand to her own neck and muttering a quick healing spell.

“My apologies, darling. I meant to kill her before she hurt you. Let’s not tell Nik about this, shall we?”

Kol reached produced a small piece of discarded cloth from the table behind her and wiped away the excess blood staining her healed wound, his free hand braced gently on the other side of her neck, tilting her chin up gently with the pad of his thumb. Lis watched his focused gaze confusedly.

She hadn’t ever really taken Kol to be the touchy type.

Once the blood was wiped away, Kol went to another corner of the room as if he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, and picked up an old steel baseball bat, turning to Lis still leaning against the desk, watching him unsurely. He hit the bat against his palm a couple times, smirking.

“Oh isn’t poetic irony great, Lissa? Do me a favour and burn these will you, I just heard a car pull up.”

  
Lis found her voice as she fumbled to catch the bundle of letters before setting it alight in her hands, and watched Kol shift into sitting down on a chair in the corner of the room, flicking the light switch off next to him, plunging the whole room into darkness.

“That’s your big idea? Wait in the dark, like a mum trying to catch her kids sneaking out?” She hissed in a whisper knowing Kol could hear her from a couple metres away, as the flame in her hands died down leaving nothing behind. She saw his silhouette shrug, so she rolled her eyes and cast a quick invisible charm, blending into the opposite corner of the room, trying not to look too closely at the grey corpse impaled on to the wall in front of her. It didn't happen. Nope. No one died on her account. Absolutely no one. 

She heard muffled voices enter the house, carrying conversation. Her eyes flicked to Kol, balancing the steel bat in his hands before hitting the floor next to him, on purpose. She figured he was getting impatient. The voices immediately came closer, and Elena and Damon entered the room from the door to her right. Elena used her torch to get a passing look of the room before it stalled on Mary’s corpse still hanging from the wall.

“Mary.” Exhaled Damon.

The lights suddenly came on, Damon and Elena turned on their heels to face Kol sitting smugly in his chair. “Quite contrary.”

“Really? A dark room and a pithy one liner? Way to look like a villain, Kol.” Lis scoffed, releasing her spell, drawing the attention of both Damon and Elena.

“Lissie? What are you doing here?”

She sent Elena a shrug, letting Kol answer. “She was just trying to help me track down Mary, weren’t you Lis?” He stood from the chair and smacked the baseball bat against his hand threateningly. “Shame about her, really. Mary used to be a blast. Don’t quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie.”

Elena’s gaze moved from Lis’s to Kol’s. “And were you her favourite?”

Kol smirked at her. “You mean, did I turn her? I think I did.” He tilted his head in faux thought. “But no, wait. Maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let’s not forget the Elijah affair.” Lis watched his smug expression as he saw Elena’s own expression fall.

“Lissa and I spoke to my brother; I know you’re trying to find out who you’re descended from. Now you never will. So,” Kol walked towards them threateningly. “Where did we leave off?”

Faster than Lis could track, Kol had hit Damon’s knee in with the bat, causing him to collapse immediately. Kol kept hitting him.

The man on the ground called desperately out to Elena to run. “Elena, _get out of here_. Lis, help her.”

Lis had allowed Elena to run past her, focusing on bringing the bat into her hands. Kol sent her a glare as the bat in his hands disappeared and reappeared in hers. Letting out an angry growl, he sped past her and stopped Elena in her tracks, throwing her back into the room, near Lis’s feet.

“According to my brother, you’re off limits. Please don’t test me.”

Lis moved quickly to stand defensively in front of the girl on the ground. “Kol, stop. This is too far.”

He didn’t have the time to answer her as she felt wind rush past her and watched Damon attack Kol with renewed anger, “Don’t touch her.”

He didn’t have the upper hand for long, Kol threw him down on to the ground, grinning.

“Oh dear, I’ve hit a nerve. Heh, relax darling, I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, and then you humiliated me.” Without another word, Kol crouched over Damon and started pummelling him repeatedly with his bare fists. Lis felt herself drop the steel bat tiredly.

His anger made sense in a twisted way. He was looking for retribution for his brother’s death. All the siblings had their own strange ways of dealing with it. Bekah’s was the most normal – she grieved for her brother. Nik lashed out at his closest family, distanced himself from the hurt, and Kol – he was out for blood.

Lis moved closer to Kol and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, making him pause him beating up a currently unconscious Damon, before directing his glare at her. “And _you.”  
_ He grabbed her hand and stood, twisting it, forcing her against the wall, facing him. It hurt, but Lis had endured far worse than a bruised wrist. She looked him square in the eye.

“ _You,_ Lissa, _you_ need think about your loyalty to us, instead of pathetically defending the enemy every chance you get.” He hissed.

She didn’t flinch, instead looking at him unimpressed. “My loyalty has _never_ been in question Kol. Just my morality. I’m not sorry that I’m not okay with casual torture, and I'm still trying to deal with the fact someone just _died_ because of me, and I'm at the end of my rope, so Kol, I swear to _god,_ let me go before I _make_ you let me go.”

Kol breathed deep in anger, his hand curling tighter around her wrist before stepping away from her angrily, eyes narrowed. Without another word, he brushed past her and out the door.

Elena looked at her from where she was crouched next to an unconscious Damon worriedly. “Are you okay, Lissie?”

Lis shook her head with a small sigh and nodded. “I am, Elena. Here, let me.” Dropping to a quick crouch she lightly touched Damon’s face, watching the bruised skin vanish and become normal again. His eyes opened, and he grabbed her injured wrist near his face out of reflex.

She winced, he registered it, his gaze moved to her wrist in his grip and he let it go immediately, quirking an eyebrow. “Thanks again for the save, Morgana.”

“At least _try_ to keep out of trouble? Please?”

He smirked widely. “No promises.”

She nodded at him tiredly before blipping out into the front of the house.

Just as she thought – she saw Kol’s silhouette shift near the trees. He wouldn’t have left; she was his ride here. She ignored the car parked in front of the house with Jeremy looking out at her with wide eyes through the back window. Instead she made her way over to Kol silently and touched his arm. The next moment, they were back in Kol’s apartment in Denver.

She slipped her phone out of her pocket and speed dialled Nik. “Hey, update; we just got back from Mary’s. She’s dead, and we got rid of all the evidence. Damon and Elena didn’t find anything.”

Nik thanked her and ended the call.

Lis lifted her wrist and whispered a healing spell, watching unblemished skin with a few freckles replace the discoloured bruise. She felt Kol shift closer, but said nothing. His presence lingered somewhat guiltily.

Lis tilted her head and looked at him for a long moment.

“I understand that Kol, and I understand your anger, I do. You just lost a brother – you need to grieve.” She flashed him a sad tight-lipped smile. “Next time you hurt me though? I’ll make you regret it.”

He nodded back at her, running a hand through his hair, before moving around to his kitchen counter and lifting the large bottle of blood to his lips, swallowing more than half in one go. Lis approached him, warily watching as he wiped the extra blood from off his chin messily. “Kol, you okay?”

“I’m taking your advice, Lissa. I’m grieving. Grieving for my brother, and that wench I knew from way back when I used to have _fun._ ” His answering smirk looked as dark as his eyes as he took another few gulps, finishing off the bottle. He lifted it up in mock surprise. “Oh, look at that. I’m out. Looks like I might have to catch me some fresh dinner tonight.”

He made to move past her, but she put an arm out, grabbing his wrist and turning him around.

“Wait Kol, I- draining people isn’t going to _help-”_

Kol scowled at her and moved closer. “Then just _what do you suggest_ Lissa? When will you stop trying to help people who don’t deserve it?”

Lis scowled. “Are you _still_ angry at me helping Damon and Elena, Kol? Oh, _grow the fuck up_. What you did was unnecessary – all we went there to do was make sure Mary didn’t spill the beans.”

Kol shook her head with a dark chuckle, acting like she’d misunderstood something, like she’d taken what he’d said in the wrong way. He stalked towards the front door, but Lis appeared in front of him again looking at him worriedly. It made him hiss in annoyance. “Get out of my way, darling. I _will_ hurt you.”

Before she fully thought her actions through, she was on her tiptoes wrapping her arms around Kol’s neck, bringing him into a warm embrace. She felt him become motionless to an unnatural extent, so she gripped him a little harder.

“I’m sorry your brother died, Kol.”

She hugged him for a moment longer, then went to step away, but Kol’s arms were suddenly wrapped around her small frame. One hand tangled in her long hair, the other wound tightly around her waist. She felt him tuck his chin in the curve of her shoulder and hold her tighter. It felt as though everything around them had stilled, but her magic was buzzing through her veins erratically.

Annalise held him closer before sighing, stepping back gently and patting his back. “Uh-I…I should get back. It’s late. I’m looking forwards to seeing you in Mystic Falls again, especially now Esther’s gone, and you have no other reason to stay away.”

He didn’t look her in the eye as he nodded.

Lis went to speak again, but thought better of it. ‘ _I shouldn’t push too hard’._ “Right, then. Uh…good night. And uh...thanks, by the way. Not for killing her, but um...for saving my life. I think there's a difference.”

She flashed him a quick awkward smile and grabbed her discarded duffle from next to the sofa, disappearing to the Mikaelson Mansion the next instance.

-

She appeared in the study – Nik was waiting near a window staring outside. He shot her a quick smile before looking away into the night once more.

“How did everything go? Kol behaved, I hope?”

Lis smiled to herself. “Yeah, uh…perfect gentleman.” She walked closer.

Nik tilted his head. “Did you ask him about Gaia?”

Annalise shook head, despite knowing he was turned away from her. “No, no I didn’t want to annoy him with it. He’s having a hard time with Finn’s death as it is.”

Nik turned to face her fully, curiously. “He’s having a hard time?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, looking away sadly. “He was about to go on a murder spree. I had to hug him down.”

Nik looked beyond confused, and walked over to her intrigued. “What do you _mean,_ hug him down from a murder-spree?”

She shrugged, “Y’know like _talk_ him down, but instead I hugged him.”

Nik was smirking widely now, looking amused. “And it worked? He let you hug him?”

She shrugged again, “Yeah, I guess? He was like you though. Acted like he’d never been hugged before.”

“I take insult to that.” Nik scoffed.

“No seriously, remember the night Mikael died?” Lis was grinning brightly, gladly changing the subject of this conversation. “You pushed me away and threatened me. Actually, he _didn’t_ threaten bodily harm, so I reckon Kol’s a much better hugger than you.”

Nik grinned equally widely. “Take that back.”

She just poked her tongue out, and scrunching her nose at him when he ruffled her hair as he walked past her. Lis brushed her thick hair back with a practiced hand, and followed him, watching him pause in front of what she had fondly dubbed the casket room, before walking in – Esther’s body was back in her coffin.

Oop...and there went the light mood. 

He stood silently for a minute, solemn. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

Lis thinned her lips in concern, but accepted. “Okay, I’ll pack. Rebekah isn’t gonna be pleased though, she put a lot of effort into organising the decade dance.”

Nik nodded. “I’ll talk to her when she gets back. She’s currently getting the information from the hunter as we speak. As soon as the last stake is destroyed, we have no reason to dally in this insipid town for longer than necessary.”

“Right, okay, Nik. Goodnight.”

Before she went to bed that night, her phone buzzed. Annalise looked at the small text from an unknown number confused – it was just two letters, an initial, “ **K.M.** ”

Finally understanding, then chuckling at his immaturity, she sent back a text signed with her initials.

“ **Hey stranger :) A.C.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Self-Indulgent af and I refuse to hear anyone say otherwise - still, I hope you enjoyed it!


	20. Do Not Go Gentle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I'd like to start by apologising for this chapter - you'll see why.   
> Warning: graphic blood and torture. Strong language.   
> Not Beta-read.

Waking up the next morning could be described as bittersweet – everything was perfect; her bed was warm, and the early beams of bright sun filtered in through her large window. Her eyes wandered around the room... _her_ room; and not a dorm or a prison cell that she had grown accustomed to. Annalise was sad she was leaving it all behind; her room had become nothing less than a sanctuary that belonged to her. The first place she could call home in _such_ a long time. But no...Nik had announced they were leaving the night before. She had wanted to fight him on that, fight and say _I made friends here, and I don't want to leave;_ but she bit her tongue. Her friend was hurting; all that welcomed Nik in Mystic Falls were bad memories, and she understood wanting to leave it all behind, the same way she had never looked back once after her family was kicked out of the her parent's coven. 

Sighing, she reached out to grab her phone from the nightstand lazily, there was only one notification - her Lunar calendar app reminded her that tonight was going to be a full moon. Those never ended well. Hopefully this one was going to stay normal.

Annalise had gotten ready for the day, packed all her clothes and magic kits away before she paused, seeing a classic pretty brown flapper dress decorated with sequins and tassels hanging on the back of her door, along with two long cream coloured gloves, and a layered necklace of large pearls.

Lis smiled softly. She really did hope Rebekah was able to have her night tonight. Hopefully Nik wouldn't make them leave before it. 

Annalise made her way down and found Nik in his art studio, standing back to study his painted canvas. The light tarp on the ground was flecked with small amounts of paint – it made her grin lightly. The painting itself was large and dark, with a desolate but severe snowflake painted in sharp strokes. It was lovely. 

“Good morning Nik. That looks beautiful. Have you named it?”

He sent her a small smile before going back to working on his piece, his brushstrokes were large and confident. “No. I seldom name my art, Lissie." He gestured to the fireplace to his left. "Rebekah came by, earlier this morning. Asked about where you were, seemed to be in quite a rush. We burnt the last stake in there.” 

She leaned against the wall and relaxed, flicking her gaze to the fireplace and making it burn a bright white for a second to make sure not even the ashes of the stake remained. “Bekah’s probably busy with everything – what did she say about you cancelling her dance?”

He smirked at her quickly, turning away from his painting to get more blue paint on his palette. “She managed to convince me to stay just for one night more.”

This brought a bright smile to Lis’s face and she did a little dance on the spot a little, before stilling. “Wait, I promised I would help Bekah this morning – shit, I’m late!”

She waved an amused Nik a quick goodbye and teleported to a dark corner of a luckily empty corridor before making her way to the gymnasium.

The large school gym was a flurry of activity, mostly decorated, but some still lay on the ground ready to be hung up. Unfortunately, Lis couldn’t see any sign of Rebekah, but she did see Matt and Elena’s little brother up on two high ladders hanging paper stars on ribbons on the ceiling.

As Lis made her way over to them, she heard Caroline’s voice yell at the pair.

“What are you doing?! You can’t just hang them! They’re supposed to _trickle_ down.”

Annalise chuckled to herself as she spotted where Caroline was, next to Elena beside a table filled with decorations yet to be hung. She hadn’t seen the blonde since her awful distraction on Nik at the Grill a while ago. The girls seemed to be in a light discussion, fooling around with decorations, so she didn’t feel too guilty crashing their conversation.

“Uh, hey. I promised Bekah I’ll help her out today, but I can’t see her. Do you guys know where she is?”

Elena had frozen, looking at her with wide awkward eyes and a fluffy boa wrapped around her face, just after ending a phone call, but Caroline smiled at her politely. “Sorry, no. She hasn’t been here the whole morning. I had to step in and run the show.”

Lis was sure her confusion was apparent on her face. “But, this was a big deal to her. I haven’t seen her all morning, I figured she was here.” Caroline gave her a helpless shrug and Annalise sighed. “Look, maybe she’s just busy, but she really did want me to help. Is there anything I can do?”

Caroline assessed her quickly before giving her an unsure grin. “Yeah, thanks. I need those streamers hung over there, stat.”

“On it.”

-

Caroline had finally released her, thoroughly impressed by how effectively she worked. Annalise was kind of a perfectionist; if someone wanted her to do something, she was gonna do it _well,_ dammit. One of her foster parents had told her that her that her desire to please was almost pathological; once she had tidied the entire house after foster mum had told her to put her dirty teacup in the sink.

So Annalise _might_ have mommy issues, or just issues in general, but at least it wasn't self-destructive despite the fact that she'd never been able to stay in any foster family for long. Anyway, she digressed. Caroline made her promise to at least stop by and help next time she was in deep water, then Annalise got to the mansion to start getting ready for the night. Nik had already left early to join the party - she was running behind on time. Rebekah would kill her if she was late. 

She sent Rebekah yet another text, telling her that she’s nearly done. Honestly, her friend's absence and radio silence was starting to get to her. It wasn't like her to just not freak out when she was planning an entire dance by herself. She fondly remembered when her and Rebekah had gotten ready for the Mikaelson ball - Bekah had figuratively been a bouncing ball of enthusiasm. Plus, the last time Bekah had fallen off the face of the Earth, it had been because Nik had daggered her. Annalise had enough reason to worry. 

She paused.

Surely Nik wouldn’t dagger her again – he had no reason to. Rebekah was the _reason_ he was going to the dance, he was at the dance right now, she even checked. But it couldn’t hurt to check...right?

Her phone rang just as she shut the door to her room. Another unknown number. She lifted it to her ear.

“Who’s this?”

“It’s Damon, Helga. I got your number off Elena for emergencies.”

“And is this an emergency? I’m busy looking for Bekah.” She descended the stars in a slight jog.

She heard him huff from the other end. “Yeah? When you find her, ask her what the heck she’s done to Ric. He called me this morning saying he’s going on a little mental retreat, but funny thing is – I have Bonnie’s magic serial killer muting herbs right here. They’re untouched.”

Annalise’s brow furrowed. “Look that sounds odd, for sure, but right now – finding Bekah’s my priority. I’ll check in with you in five.”

She heard Damon protest as she hung up, but kept making her way into the casket room.

Strange. Esther’s casket was open last night. Maybe Nik shut it when he left.

Ignoring it for now, she reached Rebekah’s casket and hefted the heavy lid up.

“ _Shit.”_ Rebekah lay desiccated in the silk cushions, dagger through her heart. But she didn’t understand. Nik just had _no reason, he wouldn’t-_

_Wait._

Lis scrambled back to Esther’s casket and lifted the lid open in a panicked hurry – _shit, shit, shit_ it was empty. She had just _known_ that witches like Esther wouldn’t just drop dead, ugh- _fuck_ she was stupid. 

Her hand reached for her phone in her small brown matching clutch – but before she could grab it out, Lis felt a large hand grab hers, slipping some sort of large necklace over her head.

Whipping around she aimed a punch at her attacker, _Alaric?,_ but it was blocked easily; too easily. His face was set grimly as he batted her arm away, she wheezed at the punch she received to her ribs in retaliation. She used the momentum of folding in on herself after the force of the punch, and lunged under Alaric other arm, her heels scratched against the smooth tile in a dissonant manner as she ran for the doorway. Heavy footsteps echoed behind her, _she wasn't going to get away;_ Annalise twirled, growling and pushed a flat palm towards him “ _Somnum!”_

He lunged at her as the spell hit him, she winced as he dropped to the ground like stone in deep sleep, hitting his chin hard on the ground. It was a more powerful version of the sleep spell she had used on Caroline when they had first met. Annalise's loud breathing filled the silence as she stared down at Alaric, winded. Okay, she was okay. Her hands fumbled for her phone, shaking slightly, but a slow clap from behind her had her whirling around, defensive.

Esther stood, smiling almost maternally behind her. “You are so much more powerful than I gave you credit for, little abomination.”

“I’m not afraid of you.” Lis braced herself and stared the smirking witch down, hands raised to fire spells.

Esther chuckled lightly. “Think of this as your first lesson then – you should be.”

Esther raised an arm towards her and flicked it, muttering “ _Pomeno.”_ – the necklace hanging forgotten around her neck started to burn, constrict and choke her, she grasped at its bronze medallion desperately, _she couldn’t get it off_.

It got worse. Wave after wave of blistering agony brought her to her knees, still choking. Her vision blurred and something wet dripped down her face. Gasping, she collapsed on the smooth wooden floor, her hands slipped on the wet red tile. The unadulterated _pain_ had her whimpering back her cries, her mouth open in a silent scream. The tile was strangely cool against her face, but it too was becoming warmer, hot - _too hot, it burns-_

She could barely focus on Esther stepping closer to her and brushing back her hair, crooning lightly. “There, there, little one. Let me introduce you to the Vasanistirío Medallion; Greek, of course. Used on unstable, _disobedient_ little witches up to no good in the past. You are about to be very well acquainted with it.”

Annalise choked on the blood collected in her throat, coughing it out, before her vision blurred further and she collapsed into darkness, watching the back of Esther’s heels walk away from her.

-

When she slowly came to, her eyes burned and were crusted shut, her whole body felt sore – the pain had declined – now instead of intermittent waves, it had become a constant sharp ache. She groaned lowly, trying and failing to get up. Her weak limbs scrabbled for purchase against the smooth tile slick with dark liquid reflecting almost black in the moonlight. The smell of tangy iron surrounded her as she gasped shudderingly in pain. 

Annalise spotted her glasses beside her arm, covered in blood; she winced as she nudged them onto her nose, each small movement sparking a fresh surge of hurt.

A small buzzing noise came from her left, her clutch, it had slid under a casket frame. Gritting her teeth and trying to ignore the ache in her limbs and how hard it was to pull herself forwards on the slippery floor, Annalise crawled and rolled over to it, letting out short bursts of agonised whimpers. Once she had the phone in her hands, it slipped a few times from her bloody hands before she answered the call.

Nik’s angry voice hurt her ears.

“Annalise! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you the entire evening – where on earth are you? Rebekah’s missing and Esther’s put up a salt line around the school. I need you here.”

She panted heavily, trying to find her voice. His hearing must have picked up on it. His tone suddenly held a worried edge. “Lissie? What’s wrong?”

Annalise grunted in pain, managing to sit up, levering herself against a casket frame. “Esth-Esther. She managed to hurt me. Rebekah’s daggered in- in her casket. Where are you?”

“I’m in front of the school – no supernatural can walk across the line. She took Elena. Bonnie’s been chanting for the last ten minutes, but she isn’t gaining any ground. Are you alright?”

A whimper escaped her, and she heard Nik swear under his breath. Lis found her resolve and brought her hand up to grab the medallion, her jaw clenched, and more bloody tears escaped her eyes at the sharp twisting pain rippling across her skin.

Gritting her teeth, she pooled as much magic as could in her hand and tore it off her with a yell.

Blood dribbled down her chin, but she smiled victoriously with stained teeth at the discarded medallion on the floor. She felt lighter; her magic was moving sluggishly in her veins, bringing small amounts of relief to her sore limbs. It hurt less to breathe. But something was wrong...her magic stretched uncomfortably, stiffly as it moved through her, as if it was damaged. Hurt. Like it had been fighting, resisting, something.

She didn’t have time to manage a malfunction. Annalise breathed, _forcing_ her magic to comply – she bit into her tongue tried to repress the scream of agony.

Heavy breaths. Deep breaths. Why did she still sound breathless? “Nik? You still there? At the school, yeah? Make sure there’s no one around. I shouldn't be seen like this.”

At Nik’s confirmation she pulled all her power in and blinked to a dark corner of the school, close to Nik's signature, slightly behind some bushes. She immediately wavered on her heels - grunting, she kicked them off into the shrubbery and stumbled out of the bushes, doing her level best not to brush against the plants, leaving behind traces of congealed blood. It hurt to think, but she was fairly certain she didn't want the school bushes to look like a crime scene for a good reason.

Stumbling across the small garden to the footpath, relief filled her as she saw no one around but three distinct shapes of her friends around the corner of the school. There weren't any windows around either. This was a desolate side of the school. Nik noticed her first and sped next to her side, immediately supporting her weight, and walking her gently closer to the salt line, wrinkling his nose.

“Best get that blood cleaned up, Lissie. Don’t want to draw too much attention.”

Lis shot him a weak smile. "Wow, Nik, great idea. Hadn't thought of that." It dropped. "I thought you were in trouble, I thought Esther might hurt you too." Nik's face got even darker, if it were possible, his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed - this was the angriest she'd seen him in a long time.

Before she could reassure him that she was well on her way to a speedy recovery, Damon and Stefan appeared in front of them. “Woah, jeez, Carrie. What the hell happened to you? And why do you smell like an all-you-can-eat buffet?”

Nik tightened his hold on her protectively; she looked away from Damon’s curious eyes at where Nik was glaring at Stefan’s face – he was uncontrollably shifting into a vampire – fangs and all.

“Control yourself, _Ripper_.”

Lis shook her head, Nik didn't seem to be in danger right now - it seemed like _she_ was in danger from Stefan though. Cast a cleaning spell on herself appeared to be a priority at the moment, if for nothing but to keep the peace and make sure she wasn't mauled. Annalise grimaced, forcing and collecting her gratingly rebellious magic to comply in a way she wished. She felt the crusty coagulated blood disappear from her clothes in a hesitant manner - not at like the usual general ease she used her magic. The fresh wave of pain buckled her, and would’ve brought her to her knees if she hadn’t sagged tiredly against Nik instead. His grip tightened on her, taking more of her weight on. She patted him tiredly with her hand, looking to Stefan to make sure he was okay - the former ripper's face was set in a scowl as he looked at Nik. Now that she thought about it...this was the first time Nik _hadn't_ said 'Ripper' in a fond and gloating manner. Uh-oh, she could just _feel_ the argument building.

Stefan looked livid. “ _Control_ myself? I _lost_ control because of you! This is your fault.”

“No, you _know_ that this is your fault. You set us on this path when you released my mother. I wonder if revenge will prove the cost.” Nik adjusted his grip on Lis and brought her closer to the salt line; she tried to ignore everyone and placed her hand gently on the barrier, feeling for it's magic. 

Stefan scoffed as Damon and Lis shared an awkward glance. “Oh, I’m done with revenge. As far as Ether; we’ve stopped her before, we’ll stop her again.”

Nik smirked from next to her. “We’re strange bed-fellows, you and I. You know, all this reminds me of our time together in the twenties.”

“You say that like I’m supposed to have happy memories about it.” Stefan glared.

“Well, there were moments. Real friendship. Brotherhood.”

The magic in the boundary spell grated against her fried nerves in a way that magic had never felt to her before; but she was able to tell that this boundary wasn't bound to anything but the salt line. Strong spell, sure, but it was an amateur move on Esther's part. It should be generally straightforward to overload the spell - the only reason Bonnie seems to have been unable to do it was most likely because she didn't have enough power to overload Esther's. That self-righteous _bitch_ probably thought there'd be no one with more power than her in the vicinity. Annalise tried to gather her magic, it felt like she was tried to shape putty with sprained fingers - _fuck,_ maybe Esther _was_ right. 

Damon rolled his eyes, jumping in. “Well, he already has a brother. Not to be, y’know, territorial or anything.”

Annalise tiredly turned her head, looking at Nik smirking dangerously wide. “Oh no, of course, the Salvatores and their unshakeable bond. I wonder what will happen when Elena makes her choice. Will we see you shake just a bit?”

Lis rolled her eyes and sighed. She was feeling angry, annoyed, frustrated, hurt - a cocktail of general physical and emotional pain and she was just so done. “We don’t have time for all this posturing, guys, let’s get on with it.”

Damon smiled at her sarcastically. “Sure, we’ll get on with it, just as soon as you mind telling me why the heck you teleported _inside_ the binding circle that traps supernaturals? How are you gonna help us now? You sure as hell can’t teleport us out. Even Bonnie couldn’t go against Esther’s magic.”

She still hurt – but oh, she was pissed now. Pissed enough for it to hurt as magic built up beneath her skin, agitated. “Yeah? _Fuck_ Esther, and _fuck_ her magic.”

Shutting her eyes tight, she _pushed._

She felt light and heavy both at once as a large painful pulse of magic escaped from her, blowing the salt away in a strong wind. The boundary spell shattered with the light sound of glass breaking under the concussive force of her magic as she overloaded the spell.

Annalise opened her eyes and met the Salvatore’s awed gaze, then gathered what little physical energy she had left and stood straighter. Her chest _hurt,_ and something _in_ her felt stretched thin, - _too thin, close to snapping-_

Damon whistled lowly, looking at her in a new light. “I gotta get me a handy little helper too. _Damn._ ”

Nik still hovered next to her worriedly. “Esther’s at the Old Cemetery. You’re not teleporting there, not in this state. Here, hold on.”

She felt Nik’s arms wrap around her tightly, the next second; their surroundings blurred, and the wind sharpened to a point where she buried her face in his shoulder to protect it from the sting.

They stopped jarringly, but Nik released her slowly, not letting her stumble. They were in the middle of a darkened forest; the clearing was scattered with gravestones. One large Mausoleum stood tall in front of them – Salvatore was inscribed along the top.

She glanced at the two brothers flanking her and Nik – their attention was focused on the situation in front of them.

Esther and Elena stood at the entrance of the Mausoleum in front of them; Matt and Jeremy were positioned with a rifle and crossbow respectively, both strangely aimed at each other instead of the old witch. Their hands were clearly shaking from the effort of trying to aim away from their friend. Stefan immediately moved to stand between the two, and Damon watched Esther warily, his gaze flicking to a panicked looking Elena behind her. Esther's amused gaze lingered on the vampires, before it moved to them.

She felt Nik tense next to her as Esther’s smiling eyes met hers. “Oh, little Annalise. I see the Medallion’s lesson hasn’t sunk in yet, I hoped that you’d be experiencing it’s aftereffects by now. How unfortunate – I should have activated it for longer than an hour.” As Esther sighed still smiling, Lis noticed movement behind the witch, but made sure her eyes didn’t stray from Esther’s, not alerting her to an impending attack. 

“Worry not, I’m sure the both of us will have _plenty_ of fun in the coming future.”

Esther’s parting words were punctuated with a pained gasp as Alaric stabbed her in her heart from her back, dropping her to the ground – dead. Or as dead as she could be with her spirit no doubt pulling the strings from the other side of the veil. Annalise felt strangely hollow, the same guilt and sadness at death in general didn't plague her this time as she looked at Esther's almost peaceful smile frozen on her face. Maybe it was because she knew Esther wasn't gone, not really. Maybe it was because she felt safer. She did feel pity, though; pity that Nik had just watched his mother die, again. Annalise glanced quickly up at Nik as the rest of the gang relievedly aimed their weapons away from each other, and converged on Alaric; Nik looked like he was caught between resentment and despair but he was feeling a great deal of hurt. She sighed, looking away, her lips quirking down. Esther had hurt them all - Lis had sometimes wondered where hatred as strong as the hate Esther held within her came from; she was starting to get a better idea. Annalise hated Esther, more than she'd hated anyone in a long time - more than Gloria. Esther had hurt her family. 

She looked to Elena hugging Jeremy in relief, Damon grinning, clapping Alaric on the back. Her heart felt lighter. 

Alaric just looked plain confused. “Oh my god. Where’s my ring? Tell me what happened.”

-

As Nik collected Esther’s body, Elena had come to her with tears streaming down her face. “Is there any way you can help him Lissie? I don’t want him to die _._ ”

She had felt her heart plummet right back down to her feet as Elena had explained Alaric was in transition, that Esther had effectively made him into an Original vampire. Alaric was refusing blood to become a vampire. He was choosing to die. Even in death, Esther brought more death. It wasn't fair. 

Lis touched the girl’s shoulder sympathetically at the crack in her voice. “What exactly did Esther do to him, Elena? He’s still in transition, so he doesn’t feel too human – he feels more like the Originals, than anything else.”

Elena sniffed, nodding. “Esther did the spell, took my blood, then killed him. She said he’ll die when the time was right. She knew about the bloodlines, Lissie– she wanted to kill every single vampire whether they were bad or not.”

Annalise rubbed her nose under her glasses tiredly, turning a sad gaze towards the younger girl. “I’m sorry, Elena, but only Esther had the power to reverse this spell.” 

Annalise tiredly remembered the words her and Esther had exchanged the night Esther had tried to kill her children by turning them back human - only she would have the power to reverse this spell. The cruel irony was; Esther had done the very same thing she'd done way back when; created an Original. Annalise hoped that the spirits on the other side didn't let Esther rest. It didn't make sense though; why would Esther subject herself to the collective hate of the entire witch community just to make another all-powerful vampire? Why the hell was she messing around, inducing Alaric's Other Self to kill those mortals? 

Her head hurt as she watched Elena’s face crumple in grief. “But he won’t transition, he doesn’t want to be what Esther made him. He’s going to _die_ , Lissie.”

Lis laid a heavy hand on Elena’s shoulder, drawing her into a tight hug. “At least this will be his choice, sweetheart. The best you can do is support him, and stay strong.”

Elena shook her head sadly, her grief-stricken eyes looked to Annalise like she had expected _more_ from her, before walking away to Jeremy’s side. That hurt more than the pain the medallion had put her through. That pain was constant, yes, but dull. This pain felt _festering,_ the guilt was digging deeper into her heart. Annalise felt Nik walk up beside her quietly, nudging her hand to bring her out of her thoughts. “We should head back home, Lissie.”

Lis was still staring at Elena and Jeremy. Her gaze then moved to Alaric; he gave her a small grateful nod.

He was staying strong, no matter what Esther had put him through. He wasn't letting Esther _hurt_ him. Not in a way that matters to him. Annalise felt like she gained a strange amount of strength from that simple gesture despite the fact that he probably didn't know that she'd suffered Esther too, and that he too, to an extent, had been partially responsible.

She felt like she would be okay again. Lis returned the nod with a sad smile before turning to Nik. First step to feeling normal was acting normal, right? Fake it till you make it. She grinned up at Nik weakly, dodging his arm as he went to grip her tightly again. “Easy there dude. I think I can take us – no way you’re running with me again, it was a horrible ride. 1 star. Even got a bug in my mouth.”

Nik's answering smirk geve her the strength to stretch her magic once more. Glancing at Esther’s dead body next to them, she teleported them directly into the casket room, before freezing in panic.

Nik had also stilled next to her at the gory sight before him. A large pool of bright blood took up most of the ground of the room before them – gory marks trailed to the side where she had dragged herself, mixed in with her scuff marks and signs of her struggle. The Medallion lay to the side, the sight of it had a phantom pain travelling bone-deep through her.

She shuddered, collecting herself before silently cleaning up the room of its gore in one sweep of her hand, wincing. Something hurt differently that time, when she drew on her magic. Something severe, like she was paying a price. Was this what Esther said when she mentioned the Medallion's aftereffects? How long would they last? How long would it be until she felt...normal? Unhurt?

Nik looked at her dejectedly for a long moment before depositing Esther in her casket. Lis exhaled shakily, heading towards the Medallion and picking it up carefully, despite the fact that it's enchantment had finished. She just wished her hurt disappeared with it. She hesitantly ran her fingers over the etchings gouged into the bronze material before setting it on a nearby shelf. Annalise couldn't bring herself to hold it any longer; she wasn't strong enough. 

Annalise instead made her way to Rebekah’s coffin, pulling out the dagger buried in her chest gently. She lay a gently hand on Bekah’s forehead to speed up her waking process, wincing once more as magic scraped painfully against her veins for something as basic as a wake-up spell. She paused as she heard Nik start to speak to Esther’s dead body.

She turned, concerned.

“Your trap failed, mother. I _live_ , and I will go on living. Let your beloved spirits try to preserve you again, I dare you to come after me! I will build an army so big; no one will ever touch me. My survival will haunt you through eternity. _You will never destroy me!”_ He yelled the last line of his declaration with such ferocity, Lis felt her heart hurt. She strode over and wrapped Nik in a tight hug, arms around his waist. Nik’s arms were around her shoulders in an instant, hugging her back.

She felt another pair of arms approach them from the side and the pair shifted to let Rebekah join in their hug. Lis tucked her chin under Bekah’s chin and held her tighter. 

Rebekah’s voice broke the calm silence that had descended in the room, sounding strangely up-beat in the heavy atmosphere. “I can’t believe I missed yet another dance – Lissie you’re coming with me on clean up duty tomorrow, no arguments.”

Lis chuckled weakly, feeling more like herself; gladdened to know that Rebekah had escaped the worst of Esther while she had laid daggered for the last few days. “Of course, Bekah. Wouldn’t dream of missing it for the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...that happened. This got surprisingly dark, but I think it kind of works for this chapter.   
> I need the readers' professional opinion; should I make this fic a tad more angsty, or should I try to keep it lighter?  
> Hope you enjoyed it!  
> xx


	21. Before Sunset Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wednesday update is here! This is mainly setting the stage for the coming chapter, it's gonna be a big one ;)  
> Strong Language, Not Beta-read.  
> Love xx

“Ugh. Why are these _wet?”_ Lis grimaced, holding a pile of damp party streamers up in disgust before throwing it in the garbage. It landed with a loud splat. Rebekah giggled from the other side of the dirty gymnasium, busy putting decorations back in their allotted boxes.

“Just use your magic, Lissie.”

Lis huffed and rolled her eyes. “Like I told you before, I over-extended myself yesterday, with the medallion and everything. These must be the aftereffects Esther was talking about ‘cos using my magic hurts like a _bitch_ , Bekah, think of it like a strained muscle.” She picked up the mop leaning on the wall and started mopping the sticky puddle on the floor, cursing whoever dropped what looked like two large cups of punch on the floor last night.

Rebekah laughed at her misery from the opposite corner. “And I told _you,_ to treat it like a hangover. Only way through is to drink more.”

Annalise wrung out the mop into a bucket and kicked another pile of damp streamers to the side. “Okay, one; that’s bad for people who actually, y’know, use their livers on a daily basis like me. Two; my magic is still healing, and I literally fainted this morning when I tried to teleport to the kitchen, and three; I think that’s sufficient proof that your entire family’s made up of borderline _arguably_ functional alcoholics.”

“You say that like you _weren’t_ clutching a bottle of vodka while fearing for your life when we first met.” Bekah snorted, throwing a pile of paper stars in the recycling. 

“Hey, I was high-key panicking okay? I’d heard stories about the Originals – all very horrible. Plus, I actually haven’t gotten drunk since. Caffeine’s been my crutch of choice. If I drank vodka every time I found something stressful – I’d not be able to stand on my feet.”

“Fair enough.” Bekah acquiesced.

“Ugh, what a mood, Lis.” Caroline came through the double doors closest to Bekah, pausing. “Where’s Matt?”

Bekah rolled her eyes and Lis walked over to join the pair. “He bailed. Got called into work at the last minute.”

Caroline’s mouth dropped open in annoyance. “Are you kidding me? So it’s just the three of us?”

“Yeah, and you’re late. Clean up committee started at eight o’clock.” Rebekah said blithely and turned away, dropping a large chandelier in a box labelled ‘20’s’.

Caroline gestured to the clock incredulously. “It’s like 8:02.”

Rebekah raised a brow at Caroline. “Exactly. Lissie and I got here ten minutes early, and _we_ didn’t even get to attend the dance that _I_ organised.” The Original punctuated her point by carrying away a bin of rubbish and emptying it into a large one pushed against the wall in the corner.

Lis shrugged at Caroline’s insulted look. “Hey, tone down the judgement. She gets to be salty about last night.”

Understanding filled Caroline’s eyes as she gave Lis a little nod and turned to Rebekah. “Yeah, of course. I’m sorry about your mum. I mean, I know you like, hated her and everything, but still…I’m sorry.”

Annalise shot Caroline a warm smile and turned away, picking the plastic decorative lights near her, and putting it away as Rebekah answered Caroline. “And I’m sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy.” Rebekah was secretly a bleeding heart - she _knew_ it.

Lis hear sadness colour Caroline’s tone. “Yeah. He was.” 

As Annalise stacked one cardboard box on top of another filled to the brim, Rebekah called out to her. “Hey, Lissie. I’m going to go get started on the gym.”

Lis sent her a quick nod and grin, and watched her leave before turning back to grab the rest of the decorations hanging on the wall. Caroline joined her, flashing her a small smile. “Cute shoes by the way.”

She looked down at her favourite heavy black platform boots before throwing Caroline a bright grin. “Oh, thanks!”

A loud BANG echoed in the corridor that Rebekah had just exited into, the pair of girls exchanged a shocked glance before Caroline blurred away through the doors. Cursing her magic unresponsive magic, Lis had to resort to sprinting into the corridor and froze with wide eyes as she watched Caroline pin Alaric – _who was supposed to be dead! –_ to the lockers.

Rebekah picked herself up off the ground, grabbed a large white stake that looked like it was dipped in molten silver, and plunged it through Alaric’s chest. _‘Was that a white oak stake? What the hell is happening?!’_

The three girls exchanged worried glances, when instead of bursting into flames like he should, Alaric grunted, reaching for the stake and ripping it out.

Lis panicked as she felt her feet disappear from under her and she felt herself fly through the air with two thin arms securely wrapped around her, then jarringly stop. Rebekah had grabbed her and run at vamp-speed away from the seemingly indestructible and murderous Alaric. They had stopped in the parking lot of the school, behind the corner of an old utility building. Lis saw Caroline in the distance appear at her car, and went to stand up, but Rebekah held her back, lifting a finger to her lips.

Annalise’s eyes widened when she saw Alaric suddenly appear behind Caroline, but her warning was stopped by Rebekah’s hand covering her mouth. She watched helplessly as Alaric broke Caroline’s neck and dragged her unconscious body back to the school slowly, his skin blistering and flaking off in the sun.

The two girls exchanged a worried glance before Rebekah had her arms around Lis’s small frame once again, speeding to the Mansion.

They found the hybrids busy carrying packed boxes around, packing large trucks parked in the circular drive way – Nik was in the living room, sorting through some books on a shelf.

He glanced and did a double take at Lis’s panicked expression.

“What’s wrong now?”

Rebekah answered for her. “Alaric Saltzman just tried to kill me.”

Nik stood up straighter, frowning. “Alaric Saltzman is supposed to be dead.”

Lis shook her head. “No, he isn’t. Elena said Esther used the same spell on him that made you Originals – only difference is – it doesn’t look like even the bejewelled White Oak Stake can’t kill him.”

Nik walked over to them. “Where is he now?”

Rebekah ran a hand through her hair stressfully. “He’s stuck at the school without a daylight ring, but as soon as night falls he’ll come after us. We need to leave _now_.”

Nik nodded, agreeing. “Fine, I’ll collect Elena, we’ll be on our way.”

“Forget Elena! You don’t need any more stupid hybrids!” Rebekah sounded frustrated.

Lis stepped back lightly. This wasn’t how she was expecting this conversation to go.

Nik leaned closer to Bekah threateningly. “I’m not leaving without her.”

“I’m leaving right now.” Rebekah sneered right back. “You can either walk out that door with me and Lis, or you’re on your own.”

Annalise felt Nik glance her way questioningly, but she kept looking away, deep in thought. Leaving Caroline at the school really wasn’t sitting well with her. Nik’s answering silence stretched on heavily, prompting Bekah to exhaled loudly. “Fine. Trust your hybrids over your family. Let your spite be the death of you. See if I care. Come on, Lissie. We’re leaving.”

Rebekah walked past her confidently, expecting her to follow, but paused when Lis remained still. “Lissie?”

Annalise looked at Rebekah, then at Nik. “I don’t agree with either of you.” Nik’s smug smirk slid off his face.

Rebekah tried to move closer to persuade her. “Lissie-”

Annalise shook her head. “No, Bekah. It felt wrong leaving Caroline at the school by herself - I might be able to help. The two of you should run if you need to, but I’m staying behind, and I’m going to take care of this. I’ll catch up with you guys when it’s done.”

Rebekah scowled at her. “You can’t do a single spell without fainting right now, Lissie. This is suicide!”

Annalise shook her head. “It isn’t. This is me making sure you guys don’t run forever like you did when Mikael was alive. Like you said, more alcohol cures hangovers, right? Only way to the other side is through.” She shrugged attempting to make light of the situation, but Rebekah glared at her, before stalking angrily out the door, bumping into Tyler on the way out.

“Move it, sire boy!”

Tyler watched Rebekah leave with a scowl before turning to Nik and Lis. “What’s her deal?”

Nik remained quiet and stared at Annalise, so Lis just passed him an awkward smile. “Hey kid. Long time no see..”

-

For the first time in what felt like ages, Nik and Lis took the car to Elena’s house since she could no longer teleport there with ease. Nik came to kidnap Elena – something she hadn’t addressed yet for the sake of Esther’s murderous creation on their hands currently – and Annalise came along to see if she could get Elena to call everyone else, and figure out a way around the Alaric problem and saving Caroline.

A disgruntled looking Jeremy opened the door when Nik knocked. “What the _hell_ do _you_ want?”

Annalise snorted when Nik looked genuinely taken aback. “Now is that any way to treat a guest?”

Stefan popped up behind Jeremy, opening the door a little wider, looking tired. “What are you doing here, Klaus?”

Nik looked at Jeremy pointedly. “Well, for starters, young Jeremy here could show some manners and invite me inside.”

Annalise was still grinning. “Well, I for one think Nik was very adequately greeted.”

Damon now joined Jeremy and Stefan at the door as Stefan ushered Jeremy upstairs.

Nik looked on watching the two Salvatores take care of Jeremy carefully before commenting. “Hm…poor lad. Loses one questionable father figure only to be replaced by the likes of the two of you.”

Lis whacked Nik for that snide comment (which was promptly ignored), as Damon spoke up, grimacing. “Yeah…about that. Something happened.”

Nik smirked. “Oh, I know all about my mother’s invulnerable little creation and that’s why I’m here. I’m leaving town, I just need to pick up a few road trip necessities. Spare tire, flashlight, doppelganger.”

“Can’t help you there.” Damon replied immediately, going to close the door. Lis put her hand on it before he did.

“Wait, that’s not why _I’m_ here. I was looking for you guys actually, and Bonnie and Elena.”

Damon paused. “Why?”

“Because Caroline, Bekah and I saw Alaric at the school – he attacked them, and he still has Caroline. I can’t fetch her myself ‘cos Esther messed my magic up yesterday, but I figured I could help you guys deal with him?”

Stefan grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her indoors before Nik could stop them.

As Stefan yelled upstairs for Elena and went up looking for her, Lis looked through the window at a pacing Nik and shrugged at him. He rolled his eyes and picked up a newspaper on the porch, rolling it up in his hands. He was going to be annoying about this, wasn’t he? What an absolute drama queen.

Damon sidled up next to her. “So why are you interested in helping Caroline?”

Lis pointed at her tall boots with a bright smile. “She complimented my shoes.”

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yeah, why not?”

Stefan came jogging down the stairs in a hurry, passing a worried look to her and Damon waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

“Where is she?” Damon asked Stefan.

“She’s not here.”

“What do you mean she’s not here? Where did she go?”

Lis exchanged a polite smile with Bonnie as she walked into the foyer. “What’s going on?”

Damon was busy looking through the blinds at a pacing Nik with narrowed eyes. “Alaric has Caroline at the school according to Eleven here, and Klaus wants in to grab Elena and get the hell out of dodge. We are also currently _missing_ Elena, so the entire thing’s a bit of a mess.”

Damon peered closer at Nik before Lis saw his eyes widen. “Duck!”

The sound of breaking glass filled the house as Annalise ducked low on instinct. A shower of small pieces of glass fell around her, as a rolled-up newspaper moved slowly to a stop at her feet. She got up slowly, a quick glance around the room showed Stefan and Bonnie slowly getting up from behind the kitchen counter, and Damon climbing to his feet from where he had lunged behind the sofa. Lis scowled, shaking the small pieces of glass from her thick curly hair.

Annalise vocalised her annoyance. “What the _hell_ Nik? Elena apparently isn’t even here. Give us a sec.”

“Tell them to let me in!”

Lis picked up the newspaper and threw it right back at him. Pity his reflexes caught it before it smacked his face. He looked at her incredulously, but she just shrugged. “You were being annoying, and you got glass in my hair.”

Nik smirked innocently at her.

Annalise looked back at Stefan and Bonnie in the kitchen, they’d been joined by Jeremy and Damon; all talking in low voices worriedly.

“What’s going on guys?”

Stefan gave her a worried glance before looking at Nik, still watching everyone through the broken window. “Alaric called, he has both Elena and Caroline now, and he’s gonna kill them both unless you turn yourself over to him.”

“Now, I know you’re not asking me to walk to certain death.” Nik glared at Stefan as Lis carefully opened the front door, pushing aside the broken glass with her foot, and walked onto the porch.

Stefan shrugged as he followed her, “I really wish we could. But unfortunately, if Alaric kills you, there’s a one in four chance that we die too.”

Damon walked out looking relatively unbothered about that fact. “I’ll take those odds.”

“And a hundred percent chance that Tyler dies.” Stefan gave his brother a tired look that was easily ignored.

“I’m good with that too.”

Nik suddenly smirked turning to Damon sarcastically. “How about Damon sneaks in and distracts Alaric, while Stefan grabs Elena and carries her to safety?”

Damon squinted at Nik. “Huh, that’s a great idea. What’s to stop me from getting killed instantly?”

“Nothing.” Lis facepalmed at Nik’s wide grin.

Annalise moved her glasses up and rubbed her eyes tiredly – these men were so damn immature; and it’s _her_ saying that, the world must be ending. “Nik, come on. Work with us here. What about Caroline?”

Damon pointed at Lis’s question, looking at Nik. “Yeah, Caroline. Listen to the _conveniently_ powerless super witch. Didn’t you have a thing for her? Or did she just reject you too many times?”

Stefan looked about as fed up as she did. “This really isn’t helping too much.”

Lis exchanged a tired glance with him. “I agree. We don’t have time for this. We need a plan. Can’t we dagger him with your white Oak ash, Nik?”

He shook his head. “No, the stake didn’t work, so the ash probably won’t either.”

Annalise tilted in thought. “Is there any other way to incapacitate an Original? Other than staking or daggering? This just isn’t right – Alaric _can’t_ be indestructible – the laws of magic dictate he _has_ to have a weakness.”

Bonnie chose this moment to step out of the house, deep in thought. “Yeah, I might have an idea. My mom used a desiccation spell on Mikael that immobilized him for over 15 years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric.”

Nik raised a brow. “If and might? Your words inspire such confidence.”

“Shush, Nik. At least she gave us an idea we can try.” Lis nudged Nik before turning to Bonnie. “Do you need any help with this spell? Can I look over it to see what it does, and whether it’ll work on Alaric?”

Bonnie nodded at her with a grateful smile. “Yeah, of course!” She turned to Nik. “But even with the spell, we’ll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down. Including yours.”

Lis sends Nik a pleading glance, he looks at her for a moment before sighing and turning back to Bonnie. “Just so we’re clear, the sun sets in about eight hours. If we don’t succeed before then, Elena will be dead, I’ll be gone, taking Lissie with me, and the rest of you will be left to fend for yourself.”

Annalise corrected him internally – in the high possibility that they fail today, she didn’t have it in her to leave the Mystic Falls gang with an Original problem. She just hoped everything worked out okay.

-

Annalise had made herself comfortable on the beautiful sofa in front of the grand fireplace at the Salvatore’s Boarding house, watching Bonnie nervously pace across the expensive looking Persian rugs on the timber floors. Damon was on the couch opposite her, alternating between looking at Bonnie and the clock on the wall opposite them.

The clock showed that it was almost noon. It had been nearly two hours. Yikes.

It seemed Damon shared her sentiments, sending Lis a sarcastic smirk. “Well, this is promising.”

Bonnie turned to him in annoyance. “Relax, Abby will be here.” It almost seemed that she was almost reassuring herself with that statement. Lis sent her a sympathetic smile.

Damon took the rude route, rolling his eyes and calling out her bullshit. “I’m sorry, I forgot about her Stellar track record in the dependability department.”

“You’re one to talk.” Lis threw a couch pillow at his face, he caught it, looking unimpressed. She poked her tongue out at him.

Bonnie sighed, pacing the other way again. “Jamie said she was coming, okay? Just give her time.”

Just as she finished her sentence, the doorbell rang, the Bonnie and Lis exchanged a hopeful glance and Bonnie moved to get the door, but Damon rolled his eyes at her from the couch.

“Don’t get your hopes up! Might be a Girl Scout.”

Lis threw another pillow aggressively. Damon caught it and threw it right back at her before standing to go pour himself a glass of blood from the decanter in the corner. Annalise fumbled with the pillow before setting it down on the couch with an audible huff. Curse his super strength.

A moment later, Bonnie and her mum had joined them in the parlour – Bonnie’s mum was looking around taking in the Salvatore house in awe. “Why didn’t I have to be invited in?”

Bonnie passed her mum an awkward smile. “Only vampires live here.”

Damon walked up next to Lis facing the Bennetts, sassily swirling a glass of blood in his hands. He shrugged at Abby. “We had signed over the dead to Elena, but she died. The seal broke, very long story.” He held out the glass towards her. “Blood?”

Abby stared at the glass before glaring at Damon. He held it out closer to her in an insisting manner. “Ah, come on. Think of it as a peace offering.” Abby continued to glare hard at him. He just shrugged, smirking. “Fine, more for me.”

Lis slapped Damon on the arm, prompting another insulted look pointed at her. “What? Do you just wake up every day and say to yourself ‘I’m going to be the biggest douche possible to everyone today’, or were you just born an asshole?”

Annalise saw Abby smile just slightly at her as she shook the former witch’s hand. “Hi, my name’s Lis. Pleased to meet you. You can sit down over there,” Lis gestured back towards the couches. “We just have a quick question about a spell you performed a while ago.”

Abby smiled politely and sat down on a couch, Damon and Lissie sat on the couch opposite her. Bonnie stayed standing up, addressing her mother. “Esther created a vampire that can’t be killed. I want to desiccate him like you did Mikael.”

Abby immediately frowned and shook her head. “Bonnie, it’s too dangerous. Your magic comes from the Earth, it’s pure. This spell asks you to tap into dark places. Places of temptation, places you can’t handle.” 

Bonnie was resolute. “You turned your back on me for sixteen years, you have no idea what I can handle.”

Lis warily watched the exchange between mother and daughter before uneasily turning to Bonnie. “Bonnie, maybe she’s right. If this spell requires Dark Magic – I think there’ll be pretty heavy repercussions. I steer clear of the stuff myself.”

Damon clearly didn’t share her concerns, however. He looked at Lis and shrugged. “Gotta say I’m team Bonnie on this one. How hard can it be to parch a vampire?”

Lis looked away deep in thought as Abby answered Damon’s question. “The spell allows you to stop a vampire’s heart. The blood will stop flowing, and his body will desiccate.”

Bonnie looked lost. “That’s exactly what we want to do.”

Annalise looked at her worriedly. “Bonnie, think about it. Dark magic relies on mimicry and sacrifice. It’s a closed system functioning on equivalent but opposite exchange. To have enough power to kill something that is considered supernaturally undead – you need to leech that power from the mortal living to balance it out.”

Bonnie grew ashen and Damon looked between them, confused. “What does that mean, guys? Bonnie? I don’t speak witch.”

“That means I have to stop a human heart.”  
  


-

Everyone decided to meet at the picnic tables on the school grounds – Nik and Stefan had already been there on recon duty while Lis, Bonnie, and Damon had met with Abby at the Salvatores’. 

Damon had called Jeremy up on the ride there and caught him up to speed on everything – he had volunteered for Bonnie’s dark spell immediately. Bonnie had elected to use the dark spell no matter the cost – Lis disagreed completely. No good ever came of practicing dark magic – either the price was too high, or the allure of more power was too hard to resist.

Since she couldn’t exactly be angry with Bonnie resorting to Dark Magic without offering her an alternative, Lis was sitting up on the picnic table next to Jeremy, one foot propped up leaning her notebook against it – scribbling furiously.

The book looked cool – thick, leather bound and black – she had ordered it with all her new supplies back when she’d first met Elijah. Now she had found a use for it – she was going to make it her very own grimoire and write in it her theories and the spells she came across. Annalise was currently quizzing Jeremy, as Bonnie and Damon talked a few feet away, waiting for Nik and Stefan to join them.

“So Elena said Esther made Alaric into an Original, took her blood, and that he’d die when the time was right. Is there anything else I’m missing?”

Jeremy looked down at his hand and fiddled with his Gilbert ring. “Yeah, Elena said the dagger was dipped in Alaric’s ring – that the ring’s magic is what makes it indestructible.”

Lis flashed him a grin, jotting that down. “That’s like, okay news at best. It’s not too bad to hear. Anything else?”

Jeremy looked at her, perplexedly squinting while shaking his head slowly. “No, uh…that’s all I can remember. Oh, and the fact that Esther messed with him every time he died to create evil Alaric.” He couldn’t help but grin at Lis’s little victory fist pump at that statement. “Yes! I called that shit. I knew it was Esther!”

“But wait, what do you mean it’s okay that Alaric’s got an indestructible stake?”

Lis returned to her book, replying to Jeremy distractedly.

“Uh…It’s okay news ‘cos the ring only protects you from supernatural deaths, yeah? All we need to do is like toss the stake in a woodchipper, then burn it in a natural fire, or like, leave it to decompose into mulch. Imagine that – trynna feed the Originals mulch to kill ‘em. Murderous green thumbs. Only hedging my bets at this point though; Esther’s one tricky witch – the stake itself is supernatural to start with ‘cos white oak has magical properties, and the ring only helps non-supernaturals – but we’ve seen the stake survive. Don’t know how Esther’s interfered with the ring’s magic.”

Lis was busy listing things that could potentially be an immortal Alaric’s weakness; immortals _had_ to have one – it was like the biggest rule in magic – there needs to be something to balance that power out, there needs to be a loophole because nature’s a crafty _bitch_.

So the white oak doesn’t work against Alaric – but sunlight did. It didn’t look like the sunlight affected him _more_ than a normal Original in order to make up for the lack of reaction to white oak. So…would vervain also affect him the same amount as it would a normal Original, or would it not? Since Esther didn’t call on the magic of the white oak to grant Alaric life, would vervain – flowers which were known to grow on the white oak (unless grown in bulk at a gardener’s or hunter’s) - even be effective?

Too many unknowns. She needed a new line of questioning.

Would it be safe to assume that Esther had completely swapped out the white oak component for something else? What elements did Esther have at hand though?

Bones, since she was in a Mausoleum? No – Esther would never make Alaric’s weakness something that was so accessible. Esther wouldn’t have time to map out an entirely different spell with different ingredients. Lis tapped her pen against the edge of her book in thought, ignoring Damon annoying Jeremy about his ring. She chose to look up when Jeremy started sounding angry –

“This is _my_ ring, Elena’s _my_ sister. No one’s gonna fight harder for her than me. I'n not gonna turn into evil Alaric 2.0.”

Lis nudged Jeremy in support and levelled a small deadpan at Damon. “Yeah, I reckon Elena’s gonna prefer an evil Jeremy over a dead one any day. Either have him in on the action and let him die, or let him die in a controlled setting, like the responsible adult you are.”

Damon rolled his eyes at her and squinted, scowling. “Fine. Be stubborn.” He passed Bonnie a furtive glance. “Try not to kill him, will you?”

Bonnie threw Damon an annoyed glare as Lis distractedly waved at Stefan and Nik approaching their picnic table. Nik smirked, mirroring her wave before looking at Damon and Bonnie watching Jeremy in concealed worry.

“Look at this; one big happy family.”

Bonnie didn’t deem his comment worth a reply as she pulled out a vial of blood from her bag and handed it to Damon. Lis hid her frown by looking down at her book. “Drink this. It’s my blood. It bridges up all together so that when I stop Jeremy’s heart, you’ll have the power to stop Alaric’s. You’ll need to make a physical connection to his blood stream; a vein, artery, something connected to his heart.” 

Lis raised a brow as Damon took a sip of the young witch’s blood. “I still don’t condone this plan, Bonnie. Blood magic, _and_ a strange mix of Mimicry and Voodoo? There’s gotta be another way.”

Stefan grabbed the vial his brother held out to him, and took a sip, considering Lis’s statement. “That’s why you’ll be out here figuring out what Esther’s done. Bonnie and Jeremy are going into the woods not far from here for cover, and Klaus, Damon and I are facing Alaric.” He glanced at both his brother and Nik. “If one of us gets a clean shot, take it. The other two; hold him down.”

Stefan offered the vial to Nik, he took it, and looked towards Lis. She thinned her lips in clear distaste towards the plan but shrugged. She couldn’t offer an alternative. Nik understood and looked at the blood in his hand in thought before making eye contact with Bonnie, Stefan and Damon threateningly.

“Before we all walk through these doors, let’s get on the same page, shall we? I was the one who created your vampire bloodline, therefore I am responsible for your lives and Tyler’s life, Caroline’s life, and of course, Abby’s life, should anything go wrong.”

Annalise’s eyes were wide – so Nik had known he was their sire the entire time; his tone was far too steady for this to be a lie – or he _could_ be bluffing, you never really know with Nik.

“Or you’re just lying to save your ass.” Damon seemed to think the same.

Nik smirked confidently. Lis was now at least 90 percent sure he was telling the truth – he seemed way too smug. “I’m not lying. But go ahead, call my bluff, let the teacher kill me. You’ll all be dead soon thereafter.” He punctuated his point by sipping the remainder of Bonnie’s blood in one go.

Stefan had reverted back to his tired expression – it seemed to be his default in recent times. “Let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

He led Damon and Nik towards the school entrance, Nik exchanged a parting glance with Lis – she nodded before he turned away, answering his silent question. She’d have his back.

Looking to her side, she realised that Bonnie and Jeremy were already in the distance, walking into the woods at the edge of the school grounds. Sighing, she turned back to her journal and tapped her pen against it, trying to recover her previous train of thought.

Esther had probably swapped out the White Oak in the spell for another component with similar properties – or at least one versatile enough to mimic them. There were countless substitutes that could do this – and Esther could have had access to any one of them while she had been hiding for the last week; they had, after all, found Finn all the way in Atlanta. Damn, she needed a new line of questioning again. 

Wait – she underlined a phrase she had written down at the top of the page – it was what Elena had told her about Alaric’s situation the night before.

Alaric would die when the time was right.

Lis chewed her lip. His life couldn’t be tied to anything regular, like the moon cycles – Esther wouldn’t give Alaric a time limit – she needed her children killed before Alaric himself died. 

Would she tie his life to one of theirs then? If she did, she would have needed their blood to link them once more. Elijah was out of the question – he seemingly had dropped off the face of the Earth when he had left Mystic Falls. Kol was far too smart to ever give someone his blood – accidentally or otherwise; and so was Nik. It could be Rebekah – after all, Esther did possess her for nearly an entire day – but then, Alaric wouldn’t have let Rebekah leave so easily this morning and targeted Caroline instead. He would have wanted her close and convenient, so as soon as his mission was complete, all he’d have to do was kill her.

So, no. It wasn’t any of the Original children. Who else’s blood could she have- _wait_ -

 _Fuck,_ Lis’s eyes widened.

Esther was smart. She had to hand it to her. This solution was almost poetic.

Initially, Lis had dismissed Elena’s blood because it had already been used in the Original spell that Esther cast so long ago – Damon had mentioned that she had used the blood of the doppelganger who had come in between Nik and Elijah – but _shit._

Esther would have known about the versatility of doppelganger blood; so instead of using it to fulfill the single role it had in her spell, Lis bet all she had that Esther had also managed to sneak a little blood linking spell in there as well – not dissimilar to the one that Bonnie just used. 

Wait- Bonnie, she was going to stop Jeremy’s heart – would that hurt Elena? Shit shit shit shit. Esther had made sure that even if Alaric was defeated, Elena would die too – ensuring Nik wouldn’t be able to make hybrids anymore. Crafty _bitch._

She distractedly felt her journal fall off her lap as she stood, trying to think her way through a plan of some sort.

This was proving to be _such_ a bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're still enjoying this story guys! Leave me comments pls? I love hearing what you guys thought about the chapter! I've got so much planned for this fic. :)  
> See you on Sunday!


	22. Before Sunset Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday update!  
> One of my favourite readers asked for angst. I hope I delivered :)  
> WARNING: Graphic depiction of Canon-typical violence, very Strong Language  
> Not Beta-ed.  
> Enjoy!!

The school was closer to her than Bonnie was – she could stop the boys from carrying out their plan faster than the time it’d take to get to Bonnie and warn her. Annalise located Nik’s familiar signature instantly, and ignored the sharp burning tug of pain from her magic as she pulled herself to him.

As she was trying to catch her breath weakly from her impromptu spell weakly, she regarded the chaotic environment around her. The hallway way in disarray when she had appeared in the middle of it, lockers were dented, some were open, spilling out loose papers and textbooks. Stefan and Damon lay unconscious on the ground, and Elena cowered unsurely near where Annalise had teleported to. The girl had initially flinched at her sudden appearance, before sending her a hopeful smile.

Lis heard a bang behind her and whipped around to see Nik had launched Alaric at the lockers, holding him there with his teeth gritted in effort. His other hand was buried deep in Alaric’s chest; Lis felt a swell in dark energy permeating the air around the two struggling vampires. _Shit,_ Bonnie had started the spell.

“Nik, stop!” Annalise had shouted the words on reflex without thinking it through.

Nik had looked towards her with his brows furrowed for a just moment. Alaric seized this split-second opportunity of distraction, pulling Nik’s hand from his chest and throwing Nik backwards sliding along the floor. Immediately the dark magic in the air around him dissipated; the spell was broken. Her small relief at the fact that Elena was, once again, temporarily safe, was abruptly replaced by fear - Alaric had the White Oak stake as he appeared on top of Nik, pushing it down towards his chest; Nik was struggling on the ground trying to push it away. He was losing.

Lis had to do something, _anything._ Whirling around, she grabbed a stray pair of scissors on the ground and grabbed Elena by the hand. “Do you trust me?” Elena’s hesitant nod was good enough – Lis pushed her against the wall, one arm twisted up behind her gently, and aimed the open blade of the scissors at her neck. “Alaric! Stop!”

Both vampires looked towards her, Nik in confusion, and Alaric with fear – her hunch was right. Elena _was_ the key. She edged the blade closer to the girl’s throat. “Let him go, or I kill her.”

Alaric slowly got off Nik and climbed to his feet, reaching out to her placatingly. “Now, now, little abomination. Put it away – I know you haven’t got what it takes.”

Lis’s fingers clenched the scissors harder as she grit her teeth. “You need to come up with a more original nickname than that, _dick._ Get stuffed. I know Esther linked you to Elena. I know that’s what’s keeping you alive right now.” 

Nik narrowed his eyes in understanding, then anger; he had linked the dots together then. Esther had scornfully slighted him once more – yet again he had to choose between making his hybrids (contingent on Elena’s survival) or his own survival. His gaze grew dark. 

Elena stiffened, still leaning on the wall, before pushing back against Lis’s weak grip and facing Alaric on her own. “That’s why you still need me alive? That’s the reason why Esther used me to make you, isn’t it? She didn’t want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one, mine. That way you only have one life span to kill all vampires and then you’ll be gone. So when I die, you die too. Lissie's right.”

Lis looked at Elena proudly – she was a smart kid to have figured that out. Alaric denied her statement though. “You’re wrong.” He was taking the path of denial then...he didn't have to be so obvious about it - his eyes were darting nervously between the pair of scissors in Lis's hand, then back at Elena. 

Elena scowled at him and ripped the pair of scissors from Lis’s hand, holding it to her own neck, pressing them down a lot more threateningly and therefore convincingly than before; Annalise made an aborted gesture to rip the scissors away before Elena was digging them deeper into her neck. “Am I?”

Beads of blood escaped her skin where the blade met neck, Annalise was feeling helpless before Alaric interrupted. “Stop, Stop! Stop! STOP!”

Nik and Lis exchanged a glance. They were right; and that meant they had to get away. Bide their time. 

As soon as Elena lifted the blade from her neck; Lis grabbed a hold of her arm, Nik was next to her in an instant. Her magic reacted instinctively, and the next second found them in the middle of Nik’s living room.

Annalise felt her knees sting as she fell to the ground - her magic was all she felt, and _hurt_ accompanied her dizziness. Everything was spinning; she couldn’t focus. Rebekah hadn’t been joking when she had said Lis had fainted this morning. She had hoped that her magic had recovered enough, but it clearly hadn’t.

She felt Nik help her stumble to the nearby sofa as her eyes shut heavily. All she knew next was darkness.

-

Her eyes felt heavy – hell, her entire body did. It ached as she tried to moved her lead limbs, but all she achieved was a small finger twitch. Lis managed to curl it feeling the soft fabric of the couch under her with a lot of effort. She was still alive then. Yay her.

Forcing herself to roll over on her shoulder, her blurry vision showed someone with long brown hair slumped in a chair opposite her – Elena?

Shoving her knees off the edge of the sofa, she levered herself up, huffing. Her fingers curled into the cushions at the wave of pain reminiscent of the medallion rushed through her. So this was the full after effect of the medallion...it made her never want to practice magic again in fear of the waves of erupting pain embedded in her memory. 

She exhaled deeply.

Annalise’s fingers brushed against something metallic at her side – _thank God, her glasses –_ she settled them on her nose, looking forwards once more. Elena looked weak and fatigued, she was tied to a chair – a tube filled with red blood left the crook of her elbow, dripping into a small plastic blood bag hanging on a stand.

Lis’s stomach recoiled in disgust – this whole set up reminded her of the nightmare she had endured at Gloria’s. No way in hell was she letting _anyone_ drain Elena.

Stumbling to her feet, she managed a few steps before falling unsteadily to her knees beside the young girl. Annalise reached for her magic on reflex to break Elena’s bonds, but hissed with tears pricking her eyes at the resulting wave of pain. Clenching and unclenching her hands trying to psyche herself up, she detached the large needle from the girl’s arm carefully, then got to work untying Elena slowly with stiff, unsteady fingers.

Her light touch must have roused Elena – the girl shifted in the chair groggily until her unfocused, bleary gaze landed on Annalise. “What are you doing?” The girl’s voice was rough, croaky. Lis was sure hers was the same. She lifted a finger to her lips to silence Elena, still working on the tight binds. She managed to free a foot.

It took her longer than she liked to admit to realise that someone else had joined her in untying Elena, crouched low right next to her. She turned her heavy head – Tyler. He nodded at her with a stiff smile, ripping the rope off Elena’s other foot, then her arm in quick succession. Hm...efficient. Oh, how she wished her magic wasn't still being a bitch. 

Elena shifted once more, looking at something over their shoulder. “Tyler, Lissie-”

Tyler was quicker to turn around than her - she felt him stiffen. _Shit._

Following Tyler’s gaze she saw Nik leaning against the doorway, looking at the both of them with a hard expression set on his face. Lis avoided his gaze and wordlessly turned back to struggling with the last bind around Elena’s arm. Tyler, on the other hand, stood. She heard him approach Nik.

Nik’s voice sounded strange as he addressed Tyler. “So much for the sire bond.” He sounded almost disappointed. Lis kinda felt bad. 

Tyler didn’t seem to appreciate his tone. “I’m not your little bitch anymore.”

Lis’s fingernail she had levered under a tie to loosen it, stung. Drawing it back with a hiss, she saw her nail had broken - her finger was bleeding heavily. Scowling she tugged on the loosened rope and tried to use the extra give to loosen the knots. Her blood was making it harder than it already was though – she grunted lowly in annoyance as she listened with one ear to Nik and Tyler’s conversation. Her mind was a mess of swears and pain. Stupid _rope, stupid blood, stupid magic, fuck this shit._

Nik’s voice sounded a bit closer, like he had walked further into the room. “How did you break the sire bond?”

“By breaking every bone in my body a hundred times for the girl I love.” Tyler’s reply was proud, bordering on smug.

“That’s impossible.”

“Is it?” She heard footsteps. “Or maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty. But what do you know about that? The only person I could remotely consider your friend is Lis, and even she’s helping us right now.”

Annalise paused, not bothering to turn to Tyler. “Leave me the fuck out of your arguments, Tyler. You don’t know shit.”

There was a pause in conversation before Nik spoke again – she could almost hear the smirk he had on his face. “You know, you should be thanking me. I gave you a gift. I took away your misery.”

Tyler had had enough. “You didn’t give a crap about me! You just didn’t want to be alone!”

Lis thinned her lips in distaste at Tyler’s outburst as she finally got Elena’s last arm free. She felt Tyler move next to her and grab Elena’s hand, manoeuvring it over his shoulder to support her standing up. Annalise moved back a few steps in Nik’s direction. 

Tyler gave her a disappointed stare and shook his head, turning to help Elena walk out of the room.

The next instant Lis felt a breeze brush past her – Nik had pushed Elena to the ground violently before grabbing Tyler by the throat and pushing him against the far wall.

Lis tripped immediately to Elena’s side ignoring the tussle going on beside her – the girl had hit her head hard against the stairs – she was unresponsive, _shit._

Her hands immediately went to the sides of Elena’s head – “ _Sana.”_

Annalise grimaced in the pain drawing on her magic had brought her, she felt tears fall down her face. Wait, these weren’t tears. It was blood, the medallion’s dark magic was still affecting her magic. She tried to fight through it. “Please, _please._ Sana, sana, _sana.”_

The tips of her fingers tingled; she couldn’t help but smile relieved through the pain. Elena’s heart was beating regularly again – but the she remained unresponsive – the girl most likely had a concussion. Annalise reached deeper into her magic painfully to fix Elena’s concussion – she might be stable now – but she didn’t want the young girl dying later. 

She was distracted, however, when Stefan and Damon burst into the room, wrenching Nik away from Tyler. Lis tried to stumble to her feet to help Nik, but her knees gave out almost immediately. 

Tyler had grabbed one of the Original Hybrid’s arms, Damon had grabbed the other.

Lis watched helplessly as Stefan pulled his arm back to plunge into Nik’s chest. Her horror-stricken eyes met his. NO. Not this.

She screamed.

Her magic wrenched through her and exploded outwards from her in a wave - glass shattered, the chandelier above showered them with small broken crystals. The furniture upturned and lights flickered in the air. There was a high-pitched ringing in the air, but that's not what caught her attention. 

She couldn’t breathe.

Annalise looked down – Oh, that’s why. She had teleported close to Stefan’s turned back to restrain him during the blast. He had turned on reflex, his hands were holding her by her neck a foot in the air.

Everyone froze for a second, it felt like time had suddenly slowed down; Lis was hyperaware as she watched Stefan’s eyes track a drop of blood sliding down her cheek, chin, then neck. His hands tightened when her blood reached them. 

Damon was the first to break the silence as Stefan held Lis limply up in the air. Her eyes were drooping. She was losing consciousness. 

“Brother, I know she smells like a lovely all-you-can-eat buffet, but why don’t we put dow-”

The next instant, Lis finally knew why Stefan was called _Ripper;_ she felt teeth puncture her neck and tear into her skin with abandon.

One hand stayed on the back of her neck, nails digging into her neck, stabilising her almost thoughtfully; the other clutched her closer to a tall body. Her face was in Stefan’s neck, the same way his was in hers – except she wasn’t draining him _fucking dry_. 

Lis’s hands pushed weakly against Stefan’s chest. The pull of blood leaving her neck periodically weakened her further and further. Everything felt muted, blurry.

It almost felt painless now – white edged her vision; her arms fell limply to her sides.

This was _not_ how she wanted to go.

Time suddenly seemed to speed up again. Multiple hands were gripping at her sides, dragging her away, and she saw Damon hold Stefan back. She was on the floor now, her head lolled to the side, her neck was still bleeding out from what felt like a massive tear in her neck. Her breathing wavered, and her lungs hurt as they filled with the fluid she felt crackle through them. 

She felt skin press briefly against her lips – the tang of blood entered her mouth – she couldn’t tell whether it was hers, or someone else’s.

Her vision returned, just a bit. She was on the ground, looking up. She couldn’t move. At all.

She heard more sounds of a scuffle; Stefan was _single-handedly_ holding his own against Nik – Damon and Tyler didn’t have to hold him down anymore. He plunged his already red-stained hand in Nik’s chest – Lis felt dark magic consolidate once more in the air around them.

Fuck, no, no, _no Bonnie, not now-_

She watched helplessly as Nik’s skin greyed and desiccated. His eyes met hers as she felt a lone tear escape. 

The last thing she saw as her eyes fell shut of their own accord was Stefan zooming out of the room, and Damon giving her a guilty glance before looking away, walking to where Elena was instead.

She welcomed the darkness this time – it felt _much_ more comfortable than the reality she was in.

-

It was annoyingly familiar, waking up in a pool of her own blood. She gained consciousness slowly, memories replaying in her mind, one by one, all out of order. Elena holding scissors to her neck, Alaric slipping a necklace on her, Rebekah laughing at her then another instance of her stalking out of the room angrily. Nik desiccating, then hugging her and Bekah at the caskets.

She grimaced in disgust as her arm slid on the went floor when she tried to find enough traction to lever herself up – it was a mix of congealed blood sticking repulsively to her skin, and dry itchy flakes.

Grunting, she slid herself back slowly until she reached a wall, and pushed against it, sitting upright. Bright moonlight filtered in through the shattered windowpanes, pieces of glass scattered all across the floor reflected it, glimmering like millions of little stars at her feet. She noticed her neck and her nail didn't hurt anymore - just the aftereffects of the medallion remained. 

The sofa to the side was on its back, the table and chairs had all been pushed to the corner like a large gust of wind had blown through the centre of the room. Nik’s expensive rug was stained by her blood – damn, that’s gotta be expensive. ‘ _As soon as I get my magic back, I’m gonna have to hit this living room with every cleaning spell I’ve got.’_

Something wet touched her arm, and she shivered looking down – it was her hair, slick with cold blood. Her eyes trailed up her forearm, and arm before she raised a hand gingerly to the side of her neck slowly, scared she’ll encounter a gaping hole – there wasn’t one. Her magic certainly hadn’t replenished enough to heal her, so what had?

Annalise felt a phantom feeling on her lips – that’s right. Somebody had fed her blood – someone who wasn’t Damon or Stefan – Damon had been holding Stefan back as whoever was behind her pulled her away. That left Tyler, or Nik.

Shit, Nik.

She let her head fall back on the wall behind her with a hard thump. Her captor? Boss? Best friend? Whatever he was, Nik was desiccated. She was in no position to help him, not by herself.

The moon was out, but it was low – either it was early evening or early morning. Alaric may very well be hunting her friends right now. That gave her the motivation to take a deep breath, and start moving. Lis pushed on the wall behind her and used it as a support to stand up. Her jeans stuck to her skin uncomfortably stiff with blood, she did her best to ignore it. 

Her first few steps were unstable, wobbly, but she soon got into a rhythm, one foot in front of the other. The pain was easier to ignore if she didn’t think too much about it. Her hand brushed against a bulge in her pocket – her phone!

She nearly fell again in her hurry to take it out, her slippery fingers couldn’t grab it out of her stiff pocket easily – once she had it safely in her hand, she rubbed her other hand on her tee to dry it, then started dialling.

Nik’s number went straight to voicemail all 5 times she called him.

Annalise made her way to the foyer and up the stairs – holding on to the rail for dear life. Her legs burned, she felt exhausted, but she needed to get to her room.

She distractedly dialled Rebekah once she got to the landing, heading to her room.

She held her phone up to her ear – it was ringing – that was good news.

Annalise was already in the middle of her room before she paused, feeling strange. Her room still felt peaceful and calm despite the day she’d had. It had always stayed so separate from everything, untouched by violence – a place she could go to when things just became too much. Her sanctuary.

It felt like she had soiled it now; her bloody footprints stained the floor behind her.

Annalise was torn from her thoughts when a voice sounded in her ear.

“Lissie? Lissie? Are you there? Oh, god, they said that you were dead.”

She exhaled lightly. “Yeah, yeah Bekah, no I’m here. I’m okay - healed. Still can’t do magic though. We need to find Nik, Bekah. Alaric’s probably hunting him – he’s desiccated – he won’t be able to defend himself; I feel horrible asking for your help, but please, c-come back?” Her voice shook, she hoped Rebekah didn’t notice.

Rebekah didn’t answer for a long moment. Lis hurried to her dresser and carefully pulled out a clean outfit, and a large sweater before digging deeper and recovering a small vial filled with a bright blue energy potion.

She drank a sip and replaced it carefully, turning to carry her clothes into her en suite.

The other end of the line remained silent.

“Bekah?” Lis prompted.

She heard Rebekah inhale shakily. “Lissie, um…a lot’s happened. Elijah came to help us. But...Alaric found Nik’s body – he staked him; I saw with my own eyes – he burned.” Lis gripped the sink tightly. No.

“No, no. I – I was supposed to _help him, goddammit, of all the times to be fucking useless, I-“_ A sob wrenched through her body, she sniffed back her tears. "So...Damon? Caroline? Tyler? What about them?”

Rebekah sighed. “Tyler’s dead. The Salvatores and Caroline aren’t. Listen, Lissie, there’s more. I was angry, so angry. I thought you were dead, and Alaric wasn’t going to stop. He wasn’t." Rebekah exhaled in what seemed like regret, and when she spoke, she hesitated. "I-I did what I thought had to do.”

Lis stared at the dark circles under her eyes in the mirror, focusing on the stained lines of red lining her face. She felt strangely detached. 

“And what did you have to do, Bekah?” There was no inflection in her tone at all.

She heard Rebekah exhale sharply. “I killed the doppelganger. Sent her and Matt over the bridge – only he survived.”

Lis felt a breath escape her in a whoosh. She felt nothing. That was supposed to be worrying, wasn’t it?

“Lissie? Are you ok?”

“Yeah, Bekah. Still here. Reckon I might get drunk tonight. Bye.”

-

Annalise was swinging her legs, watching the water move under her in a calm manner. A strong, cold wind brushed past her, toppling the empty glass bottle of vodka next to her on to the concrete guardrail she was sitting on with a clatter.

She fixed her beanie and thick scarf, burrowing deeper in her thick jacket while staring down at the empty bottle dispassionately.

“You’re not that great, y’know?” She righted the bottle, standing it up next to her, still talking to it. “You’re supposed to make me think of other things, not the same shitty things that are getting me down.”

Annalise swung her legs once more – she was sitting on the Wickery Bride, feet hanging out of the concrete guardrail. Less than a metre away from her to her left, the guard rail had been destroyed – that had apparently been where Elena drove to her death.

Maybe she shouldn’t have come here if she wanted to take her mind off her burdens. Bad choices were all she's ever made, why stop now? She watched a lone leaf float along the fast-flowing river under the bridge. 

Annalise didn’t turn when she heard footsteps approach her from her right. She crossed her arms, still looking over the water, ignoring the person who had joined her.

When the footsteps stopped right next to her, she lazily turned, then did a quick double take, almost falling backwards comically. “What the _fuck,_ Tyler!?”

He had a hand on her back, helping her right herself and find her balance on the concrete beam.

“Hey, Lis.”

Annalise was still staring at him with her mouth wide open, Tyler raised his brow at her curiously.

Lis threw her arms around the young boy, pulling him close. He certainly wasn’t expecting it, but he reciprocated the hug well enough.

He leaned away, amused, glancing at the empty bottle next to her. “What was that for?”

Lis shrugged looking back out across the water with a small smile.

“You might be a ghost, or some figment of my imagination – doesn’t matter though, seeing you makes this night a little less shitty, my man.”

There was something nagging at her in the back of her brain. Something about Nik, and Tyler. She pushed it further away – she didn’t need to think about what-ifs. She was in a drunk haze – let her enjoy it while it lasts, dummy. She internally berated herself.

Her face must have scrunched up, showing her internal battle - Tyler was still staring at her amusedly. “Tonight’s been shitty, huh?”

Lis threw her hands up in the air dramatically, nearly falling backwards.

“Tell me about it! These past few _days_ ’-ve been real shitty. First that bitch Esther gives me that gaudy-ass killer jewellery. Literally. Next Alaric goes…all... _terminator_ – I see my best friend dry up like a raisin left in the sun, then I practically die myself - fucken’ hickey-ed to death. Next I wake up to find Elena – a kid too pure for this world – also dead, along with my mummified best friend. You were apparently dead too, but I’m glad you’re somehow still hanging around kid.” Her Australian accent had become more prominent as the tirade continued.

Tyler looked at her strangely when she said kid, as if she hadn’t ever called him kid before. Alarm bells started ringing in her head, but she put ‘em on mute.

“You swear a lot when you’re drunk, don’t you?” The boy next to her nudged her. 

Lis snorted and spoke. “Naah, mate. This is literally my internal dialogue 98 percent of the time. Be glad that I censor myself around you’s.”

Tyler mirrored her grin. “You said you watched your best friend dry up and die. Talking about Nik?”

Lis couldn’t ignore the feeling of wrongness this time. She squinted at him. “Nik? Since when do ye’ call him Nik?”

The kid shook his head, looking away slightly. “No, uh…It’s just what you called him.”

Annalise stared for a long moment at him before suddenly beaming, distracted. “I do call him that, don’t I? It was supposed to annoy him, y’know, but it kinda grew on me – kinda like him.” Lis let out a sigh and looked at the water below, not ready for the sudden rollercoaster of emotions hitting her. “I’m going to miss the dude.” She declared softly.

Tyler scoffed, turning away. “You’re lying. You can’t be serious, can you? He was forcing you to work for him. You're free.”

Lis smiled sadly and leaned her chin on her hand. “Ha. Do you wanna know what I was thinking when I first met him?”

“Oh, pray tell, Lis?”

She giggled at him, rolling her eyes. “I thought that he dresses like a hipster art student.”

Tyler looked a bit insulted on Nik’s behalf. Wonder why? Surely he said he had broken the sire bond, though?

Lis ceased giggling, and shook her head, trying to get back on track. He faced her fully as she quieted down and continued, looking into the depths below. “Then, my only thought was that I’d survive him _._ That I’d survived worse than the Originals. ‘Cos that’s all I’ve ever done, y’know? Survive one thing to face the next. Just kinda ride through life, existing. Hell, research was the most exciting thing I did.”

He sighed. “Lis I-”

She shushed him. “No, no, just lemme finish. I just wish I knew back then that I was making the _single best_ decision in my life.”

Annalise sniffed back her abrupt tears. He looked to her with wide eyes, not expecting her to suddenly become this emotional. Maybe getting drunk tonight _was_ a bad idea – she certainly didn’t _feel_ emotionless anymore. 

“I know you hate them, kid, but these past months with them; Nik, Bekah, Kol, and Lijah – For the first time, it felt I was doing _more_ than surviving. It’s like I finally figured out what _living_ felt like, for the first time in my life. I suddenly had _things_ that I really cared about, people I was close to, who I would literally live and _die for._ They all mean the _world_ to me. Nik was my _best friend-_ ”

Her voice broke.

Tyler moved closer to her, and she sniffed, wiping at her eyes drunkenly.

“I just wish I told him that, y’know? That no matter what he carried from his thousand years on Earth – he made an insignificant person’s life so, so much better.”

Tyler nudged her solemnly, not making eye contact. “I wouldn’t exactly call you _insignificant,_ Lissie. You’re pretty badass...” He paused before he rushed to add, “I’m sure Klaus thought so too.”

She sniffed again. “It’s just- This sounds _sad_ , but I suddenly had a purpose. I didn’t feel alone anymore. It’s how you know you’ve made it to where you belong, y’know - when every single shitty thing that’s happened in my life is suddenly all _worth it_ because it led me to them, I- I know that sounds _pathetic but-_ ”

Hiccupping, she turned into his side and hugged him again as hard as she could. She was certain her ruining his jacket, but warm arms wrapped around her small frame and tightened to hold her closer.

She leaned away from Tyler once more, giving him a quick grin. “You're alright, kid.”

Tyler rolled his eyes, and looked out at the river below them. “What are you gonna do now?”

She huffed tiredly. “I think I’m gonna stick around, do some research, ha- the _irony,_ I know – maybe get I'll get Kol’s help if he’s up for it. I had a feeling that Nik was telling the truth when he said he sired Damon and Stefan – but turns out they’re still alive. And you, you’re like a figment of my imagination; or like a ghost. But this might just be drunk-me talking, but you _feel_ alive, so what if there’s a chance _he’s_ alive too, y’know? Any sane person would probably leave now, but I don’t think I can leave, and give up on all of them.”

“So back to Rebekah, then?”

“No, no. It’s just I can’t look at Rebekah right now; she’s a good friend, my best, next to Nik. But I just can’t face her - not after what she did to Elena. I know I’ll forgive her eventually, but I feel like I should let myself grieve.”

Tyler nodded in understanding, strangely looking satisfied, but tilted his head. “I still don’t get why you like Elena so much – she left you for dead today, bleeding out. Sure, she tried to help as soon as she saw you, but she didn’t put up much of a fight when Damon declared you dead and dragged her out.”

Lis shook her head lightly. “It’s a good thing either you or Nik fed me blood then, isn’t it? Thanks, if it was you.”

Tyler just gave her a quick grin.

She took a deep breath. “But I dunno, really. I guess Elena reminds me a bit of my childhood friend. She had long brown hair too – she trusted me to look after her, just like Elena did. Then I let my friend get hurt. Every time I see a kid in danger, that’s all I’m reminded of. Feeling helpless, useless.” She choked out a teary laugh. “I was useless then, just like I’m useless now.”

“You’re not useless, Lissie. You proved that when you _saved_ your friend.”

_Wait._ That cut through Lis’s drunken fog like butter and she stilled, still looking deep into the water. “How do you know that?” Her question was less than a broken whisper, but Tyler heard, nonetheless.

He also gradually stilled next to her. “Klaus, he- uh…he told me-”

“Cut the crap. Nik would _never_ tell you my shit. You called me _Lissie_. You called Nik, _‘Nik’_ instead of ‘Klaus’, and you’re supposed to be _dead –_ You’re the one guy we know _for sure_ Nik sired, Tyler – so what the ever-loving _fuck_ is going on?!?”

A slow smirk spread across Tyler’s lips unnaturally, looking strangely out-of-place on his face. It seemed strangely familiar. Lis leaned slightly back, wary and suddenly feeling a lot more sober. 

“Well done, Lissie. It took you longer than I thought it would to figure it out – but given you _are_ very intoxicated; I’d say you’ve done well. I’ve got to say, though, I’m really touched – I truly didn’t know I meant that much to you.”

Lis still felt unnerved until her brain slugged through what Tyler meant; she felt her face fall slack. Not Tyler.

“Nik?”

Tyler’s smirk widened. “In the flesh.”

Lis reached down to her side slowly, still looking expressionlessly at Nik/Tyler, before grabbing the empty vodka bottle from her side and whacking his arm violently.

“That was for the _fucking_ pun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! I decided to be nice and not leave it on a cliff-hanger.  
> Let me know how you liked it!  
> Till next time :)


	23. Growing Pains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday update here!   
> Strong Language. Canon-Typical violence.   
> No Beta.   
> Enjoy!

It definitely felt strange, staring at Nik’s desiccated body laying almost peacefully in the casket, while she knew that he was standing right next to her in reality – in the body of a young teenager she had grown to pity.

Yup. Stranger than normal. She had gotten used to the weirdness that typically followed the Originals around, though. 

What Annalise definitely _wasn't_ used to, was the heavy poundings of pain that her brain was continually being assaulted by. Her mouth was dry, and a _ugh..._ disgusting aftertaste of vodka stuck to it – she swallowed and rubbed her forehead. Lis _hated_ hangovers – she couldn’t wait till her magic was fully replenished once more – she missed her fast healing.

Nik shifted in Tyler’s body, crossing arms and looking down at the casket smugly.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Annalise couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “Alright, Narcissus, tone that ego right down.” She peered closer in to the casket, looking at the ashy but unburnt centre on Nik’s real body's chest. “How is this possible? The stake should’ve reduced your body to ash.”

They were interrupted as footsteps echoed down the stairs to the Lockwood Cellar; Bonnie walked over to join them, narrowing an annoyed glare at Nik/Tyler. “What’s that doing here, Klaus? The deal we made with Tyler was that you’d leave his body and jump into someone first chance you got.”

He shrugged, gesturing at Lis. “Well, as Lissie here surmised, that was when I’d assumed I’d be a pile of ash. Alaric shut the lid after he staked me – fate and oxygen intervened and there I am.” Nik gestured at the coffin, turning back to Bonnie. “Put me back.”

Bonnie scowled. “I can’t right now – why can’t Lis do it?”

Lis leaned closer to the body in the coffin, crouching down, and started poking Nik’s body’s face curiously, not bothering to turn as she answered Bonnie. “Well for starters, still recharging. I hit a snag in my healing when I was nearly drained yesterday and left for dead by your friends." She levelled a flat smile at the witch before turning back to Nik's real face. "Two – this spell requires tapping into a dark magic – this isn’t a morality thing; I did actually try looking into it back when I was studying magic – saying I reacted badly to the dark stuff would be an understatement.”

Nik nodded, moving to stand in front of Bonnie. “As you can see, Bennett, you weren’t my first choice – but I need to get out of this body – now. Lissie, stop touching my face.”

Lis stood up and passed him a cheeky grin, before wincing. “Ugh, shit. I stood up too quickly. I fuckin’ hate hangovers.”

Nik passed her an amused glare before turning to Bonnie. “Your history teacher outed Tyler and Caroline to the Council. They’re on the war path and this body’s vulnerable.”

Lis crossed her arms. “This body has a name, y’know.”

Bonnie nodded at Lis’s point. “Yeah, and I have to help Elena before she has to feed.”

“Elena’s _alive?_ ” Annalise had straightened in hopeful surprise immediately - Bonnie passed her an awkward smile and a shrug. 

"Not really."

Nik looked annoyed with where the conversation had headed, however. “Elena’s a vampire, so she’s dead, and no longer my concern.”

Clearly his attitude wasn't making helping him look more appealing to the young witch as her lips curled in disgust. “You’re forgetting who just saved your life.” Bonnie’s eyes sharpened into a furious glare, before she made to turn away.

Before Lis could react, Nik had grabbed Bonnie by the throat, towering over her threateningly. “And you’re forgetting that I could _rip your tongue out_.” He hissed. “Now, put me back.”

Annalise was at their side in an instant. “Jeez, Nik. Stop – just let the girl go. This isn't helping anything.”

Bonnie thinned her lips, nodding. “If I can keep Elena human, you’ll still have an endless blood supply to make your hybrids. Isn’t that what you really want?”

Lis was still glaring at Nik as he let Bonnie go slowly – as she turned away to leave, Nik blurred around her to the entrance of the Cellar, stopping Bonnie from leaving once more. Annalise watched as Nik threatened Bonnie again with an angry glare, ready to step in at a moment's notice as he spoke. “Same rules apply. No one knows. No one. Do you understand me, Bonnie?” Nik's sharp smirk grew unnervingly on Tyler’s face.

Bonnie nodded angrily, pushing past him and back up the stairs with a heavy scowl set on her face.

Lis whacked his arm as he walked towards her again. “You’re being a _dick,_ dick. All you have to do is stay put here, for the day.”

Nik just rolled his eyes and walked past her with a huff. 

-

It had been quite a while since Bonnie left, and Annalise was bored; so naturally she decided to start nagging an equally bored looking Nik sitting on the casket containing his real body. “I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t want me telling Bekah, or Kol, or Lijah – that you’re still alive – Bekah’s been texting me all morning, asking to meet me.”

He huffed. “Then go to your beloved Bekah. Oh, wait. I forgot. You can’t stand the sight of her.” Nik smirked as she scowled, chucking a small pebble in his direction. 

“That was uncalled for, grouch. Let me deal with my own near death, and the actual death of a person I care about in my own way. I just don’t get why you’d keep this a secret though; it’s not like it’s gonna change anything. Just send them a text, y’know, instead of making them suffer.”

Lis squinted at him as Nik continued ignoring her, suspiciously looking to the side. Her mouth dropped open suddenly in shock. “Oh, you sadistic little _shit_. You _want_ to see them grieve for you.”

Nik got up and threw his hands in the air. “Take care how you address me, Lissie. This is just disrespectful.”

She smirked at him. “Oh, sorry, your Highness-”

The phone in his hand rang, interrupting her – Nik looked down at it. “Carol. Incessant woman.” He hissed before lifting it to his ear, answering it, changing his voice to a more youthful one. “Hey mom. What’s up?”

Lis muffled her amused snort behind her hand at Nik’s attempt to channel his inner Tyler; listening to the one-sided conversation.

“Mom, I’m okay. Relax.” Something Carol said next had him straightening up, on alert. “Why, what happened to Caroline?” More muffled words from the other side. “What do you mean they took her?”

Annalise stood up from the corner worriedly and walked closer to Nik as he ended the called angrily. “Lissie-”

She was already shaking her head. “No, not sure if I can pinpoint Caroline, Nik. Her vampire signature’s not as strong as yours, or as familiar.”

“Try, please.”

Annalise nodded hesitantly, shutting her eyes and expanding her senses out with a sharp wince. Immediately she could feel Nik’s familiar signal beside her, along with another two vampire signatures, along with Elena’s doppelganger energy leeching away – dying, transforming into something else; burning low in the suburbs. She could see Bonnie’s obvious witch energy moving towards the signatures – that was most likely Stefan, and Damon. Nope. She was steering clear of _that._

She reached out further, a little more...hold up, why was Rebekah’s obvious Original signature next to a normal vampire’s signature zooming in the direction of the countryside?

She’d ruled out all the other vampires who were supposed to be in Mystic Falls – it _must_ be Caroline.

Exhaling sharply she opened her eyes, facing Nik. “Okay, this is just a guess ‘cos I don’t know Caroline’s signature yet, but I’m fairly certain she’s heading in the direction of the farmlands – a little more than 2 miles away. And Bekah’s also with her, for whatever reason.”

Nik was already moving to put a jacket on as soon as she started talking. “I think I know what road they took – there’s only one main one in that direction.”

He moved to the entrance, passing her a thankful nod. “Wait, Nik. Let me come, please?”

Nik paused. “You can’t overexert yourself; you’ll be a bother.”

“So you’d rather deal with Bekah _and maybe_ Caroline by yourself?”

Nik levelled a tired look at her victorious smirk; the next second Nik was running at superspeed, arms braced securely around her. When Lis opened her eyes again, staggering - ‘ _Oh, I’m not getting used to that anytime soon.’_ she saw open farmlands around them, a large road cutting through the middle of two golden fields. The distant sounds of multiple vehicles reached her ears and she looked in the direction Nik was watching.

Two police cars and a large silver SUV flanking a large van came into view, approaching quickly – she noticed Bekah, and who she assumed to be Caroline’s, signature coming from the protected van.

She nudged Nik. “They’re in the van. What are you gonna do?”

He just smirked. “Just stand back and learn, Lissie.”

Annalise watched with curious eyes as Nik calmly walked to the side of the road and patiently waited until the first cop car at the front of the envoy passed them in a blur. The van wasn’t so lucky. Nik shoulder-checked it the next instant, sending it somersaulting to the other side of the road - a deafening crush of metal rang out each time it rolled, until it creaked to a stop upside down further down the road.

The police car and silver SUV behind the van screeched to a halt, 2 officers from each car stumbled out and immediately started shooting. Nik growled, and Lis snapped out of her speechless shock. They were still shooting at him. _Idiots_. Why aren’t they running away?

A quick twist of her hand that flared up her magical pain worse than before had them falling unconscious. They heard another screech; the first police car, now a fair way away, had pulled a quick U-turn, and was heading back in their direction, sirens blaring. Lis moved to the sideways van with renewed rush, wiping quickly at the small amount of blood under her nose, moving out the way as Nik ripped the backdoor off its hinges in a hurry, revealing Caroline and Rebekah tied up in the back.

Nik rushed in and grabbed at Caroline’s bonds while the girl in question looked at Nik as if she’d seen a ghost. “Tyler?”

“I’m harder to kill than you think.” Oh, the irony. Happy tears fell down Caroline’s face as she smiled at him, Lis rolled her eyes and moved past Nik, further into the van, passing a quick smile to Rebekah, avoiding her eyes. She started to quickly fiddle with the soaked ropes tying her down.

Rebekah was still distractedly looking at who she thought was Tyler. “How are you alive?”

Nik had now stood up, ripping off Caroline’s ropes in a rush. “No time. Come on, we’ve got to go.” He sent Caroline out of the van. “Lissie.”

Annalise shook her head and managed to loosen Bekah’s ties further. “I’m nearly finished. You guys go. I think I might have enough juice to get us outta here.”

Nik nodded at her, passing a smug smirk to Rebekah. “Keep ‘em busy, little sister!” He sped out before comprehension dawned on Rebekah.

“That’s not possible.” She looked towards Lis with wide eyes, wanting an explanation, but Lis just shrugged, still busy with the ropes. They didn't have enough time in the world to get into Nik's issues. 

Her hands paused when something cold and heavy settled on her temple; "Hands in the air, _now."_ Rebekah looked at the deputy holding a gun at Annalise’s head in fury.

Lis immediately put her hands up, facing the officer gingerly with an large smile. “Steady, swear I’m human-ish. Bullets would hurt me a great deal, trust me.”

The gun didn’t lower. “Step away, slowly.”

Lis exhaled, stood straighter and took a big step sideways, before she flicked her wrist at him. She didn’t feel the familiar pull of magic pass through her. _Shit, no, no, not now._ She flicked her wrist again “Somnus, _somnus. Sleep, dammit.”_

The police officer was staring at her, gun slightly lowered in puzzlement. He walked closer. She had over-estimated herself.

She passed him a shaky awkward smile. “Ha, performance issues. Affects us all, am I right?”

Annalise winced as the side of her face was forcefully pressed against the inside of the van, the click of handcuffs echoed in the small space, then she was being hauled up again, escorted to the police car behind Rebekah.

Someone ducked her head as they sat her in the backseat.

“Wait, is this arrest? Am I, like, a criminal now?”

The door answered her as it was shut forcefully with a resounding thud.

-

The air being pumped in through the fan smelled heavily of vervain – Rebekah’s and Stefan’s hoarse inhales and choking coughs were evidence of that. Lis was thankful they didn’t know what Lobelia did to witches. She was also glad that they thought she was just a harmless civilian, compelled to help Rebekah. They were keeping her detained until they killed her friend, to release Lis from her alleged compulsion. 

It had been a fair few hours; Stefan had remained conspicuously silent and pretended they weren’t there.

Lis honestly kinda appreciated it. He had nearly killed her last time they met, after all. She honestly couldn't look at him without seeing those sharp fangs and that _hungry_ inhuman expression had worn. Rebekah was a no go too; sure Elena was now technically considered un-dead and kicking, but Lis still hadn’t moved past it yet. The intention to kill, and all that. 

Now it was just silent, and she was recuperating. Her magic had started to heal – she was resting, and building up her strength. As soon as she had enough, she was ready to get the hell out of this stinking dump. Literally. She saw signs of scraped animal faeces in the corner of her cell. Lis scrunched her nose in disgust and looked towards the cell next to her.

Rebekah was hurting; she could tell – most obviously by the painful silence in the air. Annalise sighed. She just couldn’t stay silent. Rebekah was still her friend and she cared about her, despite the horrible decisions she'd made. “Bekah. Nik’s an arse. Him not telling you about his fake death was a dick move, but it wasn’t betrayal.”

It was silent for a long time until Rebekah’s hoarse voice answered her softly. “No, Lissie, I agree. But what about when he rescued his _crush_ instead of me? What about when he chose his _hybrids_ more than me? When he wouldn’t leave without his _precious doppelganger_? What about all those times in the last thousand years he decided I was better off _daggered?_ _That’s_ betrayal. And _that’s_ what I’m sick of, Lissie. I’m tired of playing second fiddle, always being put second.”

Rebekah had a point; Lis leaned her head against the wall tiredly. “I'm not defending him, I'm not. But what about when you helped lure Nik to Mystic Falls to have him killed by Mikael? What about when you repeatedly tried to kill Elena, and actually succeeded the last time?”

At this Rebekah did sound quite remorseful. “Lissie, I know she was close to you-”

She heard Stefan shift in his cell. “That’s not the _point_ , Bekah. She’s fine, her situation’s complicated to say the least; but she _is_ fine. I’m not the one you should be apologising to." Annalise ran a tired hand down her face. "What I was trying to say is that no one’s perfect, Bekah. Nik is an arse, _for sure_ , but at the end of the day, you guys are family. I’m sure he’ll pull through. Don’t give up on him just yet.”

Maybe she could play mediator and get Nik to apologise – she wasn’t even sure if the word ‘sorry’ was in his vocabulary. This was going to be seriously tiring.

-

The front barn door slid open creakily, and two officers carried in an unconscious Elena, throwing her into the cell opposite her, but adjacent to Stefan’s. Well...this was new - Annalise thought that Elena was with Bonnie, safe. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Stefan stood watching Elena in concern as she was dragged through the barn. 

His eyes held an enormous amount of worry as the deputies shut her cell door and walked out wordlessly. A resounding click of the large barn door signalled they were locked in once more. Lis bit her lip worriedly when Elena remained barely conscious.

Rebekah’s voice drifted over from the cell next to her. “So she _is_ alive? How’s it complicated?” 

Annalise sighed. “She’s in transition, Bekah.” She looked at Stefan in the cell opposite and diagonal to her. He was still avoiding her eyes – but this time it seemed like it was out of worry for Elena that he didn’t address her look. Lis spoke hesitantly instead. “Uh...Stefan, I talked to Bonnie this morning, she said she was trying to help. Did she manage to do anything?”

He wordlessly shook his head.

Lis crept closer to her bars. “Has she fed yet?”

He finally looked at her, Lis had to swallow back a flinch and exhale slowly. He isn’t draining her – he isn’t. He’s in a cage, and weak from vervain.

Stefan studied her face for a long moment before he finally replied. “No, I don’t think so.” His gaze was repenting, and heavy, way too heavy for Annalise to hold. She looked away, unable to look at him any longer without having a panic attack.

Elena shifted, grabbing her attention, and started to cough. Another vervain filled breeze came through the vent in the ceiling. “Where am I?” She looked up and made eye contact with Lis. 

Annalise tried to smile reassuringly despite the fact that the young girl looked sallow and sick. “A torture farm for vampires apparently. Stefan’s in the cage next to you.”

She saw Stefan lean on the wall separating him from Elena. “Elena, I’m right here. Are you okay?”

“Stefan,” Elena tried to lift herself up using her arms, but they buckled in weakness. She looked hopeless. “I didn’t feed.”

Rebekah’s tone took on a bitchy quality. “That’s a problem.”

Stefan shot her a glare. “Just ignore her.”

“Has anyone done the math, or shall I?” Lis leaned her head against the bars, closing her eyes as Rebekah spoke up once more. “I’d say you’ve got less than three hours to feed before I get to watch you die all over again.” In a fit of anger, Elena blurred to the cage bars and tried to smash through them. They didn’t budge. A despondent expression took over her face as Rebekah piped up. “My day just got a whole lot better.”

Lis chuckled. “Don’t be dramatic, Bekah.” She opened her eyes again and looked at Elena getting paler by the minute. “I’m not a vampire, remember? I’m recharging. I can get you out of here and to a blood bag soon, just hold out for as long as you can, yeah?”

Relief filled both Stefan and Elena’s faces. “You’d still help?”

She looked at Stefan, slowly, prepared to hold back the flinch this time. “What do you mean?”

“I bit you.” The guilt in his voice made her feel pity. She nodded sadly at him. Annalise really might have a bleeding heart if she thought that it maybe wasn’t completely his fault that she was having severe flashbacks of him killing her every time she looked at him. 

“Exactly. _You_ bit me. Elena did nothing, of course I’d help her.”

“Exactly.” Elena’s expression fell, her eyes teared up. “I did _nothing._ I left you bleeding there; I thought you were going to die, and I knew that in your final moments you probably saved my life, but I still just _left you_.”

Lis narrowed her eyes at the crying girl. “Why?” Don’t get her wrong, she wasn’t offended, but she just wanted to know what about her meant that she deserved to die.

…Okay, maybe she was a _little_ offended.

She heard Bekah shuffle towards her bars; anger prevalent in her tone of voice. “Let me get this straight, you left Lissie to _die_ after Stefan went Ripper on her?! After all she’s done for you? Oh, I no longer feel a single _ounce_ of regret for what I did, you deserve every _minute_ of the torture you will endure for the rest of your _short,_ sorry _little_ life.” Rebekah chuckled darkly.

Elena looked away ashamedly, but Stefan gripped the bars holding him prisoner. He looked at Lis desperately. “No, please. She had a concussion we had to drag her away, she wanted to help, it was our fault. Just, _please,_ don’t punish her on our account.”

Lis moved her narrowed gaze from Elena to Stefan. “You think I’d let a young girl die out of spite for her?”

“No, I- I-”

She glared at him. “Look, you left me to die. That’s a _dick_ move – I’m just wondering why.”

Elena spoke up lowly with teary eyes. “You’ve helped us; _a lot._ It’s true. But what happens when one day, you agree with Klaus? What if more of my friends die because you changed your mind? You’ll never choose us, that’s okay, but I can’t risk you choosing _them._ ”

Annalise frowned; her lip twitched down in disappointment. “So you decided _for_ me? You decided _not_ to help someone on a maybe? A risk? Look, I- ju-," heavy exhale. “Look. I get it. I do. I’m not insulted that you didn’t help me, I’m not. I’m insulted you think that low of me.” A low shudder suddenly passed through her and she shivered. Her head felt dizzy, she clutched at her chest. “Ah shit!” 

“Lissie, Lissie, what’s wrong?” Bekah was hitting the wall between them hard. She tapped back lightly.

“No, no, Bekah, I’m not hurting. I’ve felt this before, something’s messing with the veil. This feels like dark magic.” She gasped as she looked into the cell opposite her; that seemed to be where it was concentrated most. Elena? Not possible. No...there was a shadow behind her, reaching out to Elena. A small shadow, a familiar signature. She tilted her head and squinted. “Bonnie?”

Both the shadow and the unsettling feeling disappeared in an instant. Lis breathed deeply; Rebekah spoke up.

“Lissie, what was that? Was the Bennett here?”

She swallowed and looked at Elena’s pale face. “Yeah, yeah I think Bonnie was just here. She was using dark magic. I think she was trying to help you. She disappeared though – something stopped her from reaching you.”

Elena’s face fell, her exhaustion showed clearly as she slumped against the wall. She was clearly reaching her end, but Lis still didn’t have enough power yet to teleport her the hell out of here.

This past week had been absolutely dreadful, she was just about ready to leave it all behind.

-

Lis didn’t realise she had fallen asleep until Stefan’s shouts woke her up. “Lissie, wake up! Hey! Anyone! Hey!”

“Will you shut up!” Annalise ignored Rebekah’s annoyed yell and scrambled to the bars immediately, looking at Elena’s sallow sweaty face. The girl was breathing heavily and she was slowly losing consciousness. _Shit._ Elena's time was nearly up.

Before Annalise could say anything, the barn door slammed open. The officer looked annoyed as he walked up to Stefan’s cage. “You want more vervain? Keep it down.”

Stefan gripped at the bars desperately. “Listen to me. Elena’s gonna die if you don’t let her out of here.”

The officer leaned over to look at Elena’s cell giving her a cursory look before shrugging at Stefan. “Sorry, not my problem.”

“She’s innocent! Let her out.” The officer started leaving, Stefan followed him within his cage. “Let her out!” 

The cop turns and shoots Stefan point blank in the stomach – he fell to the ground groaning in pain.

“Oi! What was that for!” Lis was standing up, glaring at the officer. He just smirked at her. 

“Unless you want this next bullet in you, I suggest you quiet down, girl.”

Stefan rushed at the bars again, pushing past the pain. “I said let her out!”

His efforts were met with another wooden bullet, this time to his leg. As he collapsed on the ground again in pain, the officer left, smirking. The large barn door shut behind him with a thud, followed closely by the sound of locks clicking.

Lis leaned her head against the bars, annoyed at humanity in general. “Great idea, Stefan. Why _wouldn’t_ the people who want Elena to die, help her, y’know, _not die?”_

He just groaned in response, digging his fingers into his wounds to pick the bullet out. “Is your magic back? I don’t hear an alternative coming from you.”

“Touché.” She raised her hands in the air and stepped back. “I don’t have enough to heal her _and_ get her out of here. Not yet.” Her gaze moved to Elena; she was breathing heavier than before. “You okay, Elena?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay.”

Stefan immediately moved to the wall separating him from her, leaning against it heavily. “No, you’re not. I can hear you breathing. Damon was right, you should have fed this morning. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. You had hope. That’s all I ever wanted you to have and you had it.” Elena looked up at the ceiling and Lis moved away, feeling like an intruder to their conversation.

“I love you so much.”

Dear lord, Kol was right, Damon was _right,_ she was always so conveniently _fucking useless when it matters most._ Rebekah was being strangely silent. Annalise tuned back into the conversation.

Elena had placed her hand on the wall dividing her from Stefan. “God, it sucks I can’t see you right now.”

Stefan had tears rolling down his face. “I’m smiling.”

“Me too.” The brunette smiled sadly.

Lis cursed under her breath, feeling inside for magic – any at all. There wasn't enough of her magic left to heal Elena, hell she barely had enough to probably let her teleport out this cage. But it was still more than she thought she had. Then all she had to do was find the guards, grab his keys, free Stefan and Bekah, and have them super speed Elena to safety. All she needed was blood.

Annalise paused her pacing.

Maybe it was time to admit that deep, deep, _deep_ down…She was stupid as _fuck_ \- that...or she'd been subconsciously repressing this idea due to recent trauma. Both. Both would be plausible. 

All Elena needed was _blood_. Her hand involuntarily came up to her neck; she felt phantom teeth tear into in with vigour, sucking her blood out in gulps.

Her fingers traced where her throat had been ripped open, her unsure gaze caught Stefan’s eye before comprehension filled them.

 _“No_ , Lis. I don’t know why, but your blood’s potent. This is a bad idea.”

Huh. She’d heard she smelled good before, but her blood, _potent?_ Annalise made a mental note to look into it later.

Instead of asking more questions, she gestured at the cell Elena was in. “You really have a better idea right now? Elena’s stopped moving, Stefan. All she needs is just a quick sip if it’s as strong as you say it is.”

He thinned his lips, but stopped saying no. He was desperate too. He gave a sharp nod.

Annalise took a step back and braced; collecting as much magic as she could, she ran at the bars and imagined herself out of them.

There was a loud clang, her face hurt and her nose smarted where the bridge of her glasses pressed into it as Annalise opened her eyes to find she’d run into the bars.

Well, Shit.

Wait.

Silly her. Rubbing her nose, she turned, realising victoriously that she was out of her cell; she had smashed into outside of the cell opposite hers – Elena’s. The girl was on the ground, eyes closed; her life signature was dim. Right, the urgency of the situation returned tenfold, and she was glad that neither Rebekah nor Stefan commented on her ridiculous display of clumsiness, though there was a snort from Rebekah that she chose to ignore with dignity.

Annalise scrambled to her knees and tried to reach Elena through the bars. “Elena, sweetheart, I can’t reach you. I’m gonna need you to come just a little closer. Just a bit.”

Rebekah shuffled in the cell behind her as Lis watched Elena’s eyes flutter open weakly and drag herself towards her. “Lissie, are you sure this is a good idea? We’ve talked about your blood before; Nik agrees. Whatever you are is affecting how you smell.”

Lis gritted her teeth as she reached out just a bit further, electing to ignore Rebekah, the bars dug deeper into either side of her shoulder blade. “Come on, Elena. I’m right here, just a bit further.”

A thankful sigh escaped her as Elena’s weak grip circled her thin wrist - the girl hesitated. Lis twisted her hand and squeezed hers. “Just a drop, Elena. You won’t hurt me.”

Elena’s large brown eyes were unsure but was quickly swallowed up in black veins that lead down her cheeks. Her canines elongated and buried themselves in Lis’s flesh.

Holding back a pained wince and the eerily familiar feeling of the suctioning of her blood, she braced her other arms against the bars.

She let the girl bite and drink from her wrist until her fingertips felt numb. “Elena, honey? I think that’s enough.”

Elena didn’t respond. “Elena? Elena! Stop!”

Her wrist smarted as the girl’s fangs dug deeper into the surrounding muscle of her wrist; _fuck this –_ she focused a small amount of magic in her hand and released it in the girl’s face, throwing her to the back of her cell with a small blast of power. It hurt less this time. She was getting better, slowly. 

Clutching her injured hand to her chest, Lis shakily got to her feet and turned away to face Bekah’s cell, bracing herself against it, breathing deeply. The now familiar feeling of _wrongness_ buzzed underneath her skin once more – she groaned. ‘ _Dammit Bonnie, stop using Dark magic, please!’_ Annalise was thankful that this time, the feeling passed quickly.

The splintering of wood and Rebekah’s stunned look had her whirling back around. Elena had managed to rip the door of her reinforced cell _completely_ off its hinges - she was in front of Lis in a heartbeat; gaze trained on her neck, flicking down to her bleeding wrist.

Annalise couldn’t make a sound, staring up at the taller girl’s hungry eyes, words stuck in her throat. Her eyes were like Stefan's now. 

“Come on, Elena. Control it.” Stefan’s voice seemed to break through Elena's haze; something flickered in her eyes. “That’s it, Elena. Breathe. You don’t want to hurt her. You don’t. She doesn’t deserve it.”

Elena’s eyes had shut involuntarily, paying more attention to Stefan’s calming tone, when she opened her eyes again, they were warm; back to normal. Lis let out a sigh of relief. The young girl regarded her for a moment, before staring down at her own hands, then her decimated cell door. 

Elena turned to Stefan’s cell. “I wanna try something. Stand back, Stefan.”

As he complied, Elena whipped out her leg in a powerful kick sending the door splintering inwards. Everyone was quiet for a moment. The vervain-filled air clearly didn’t seem to affect the new vampire as much anymore, especially considering there was an Original still sitting weak in the cell behind her.

“Okay...add that to the list of weird-as-fuck things I have to think about later. Elena, hurry. Do Rebekah’s. They must have heard the noise by now.”

Stefan and Elena exchanged a hesitant glance. Annalise looked between them with an annoyed glare. “Come on, guys. I _just_ helped you. Do the bare minimum here.”

They still looked unsure. Lis scowled at them and stuck her arm in Rebekah’s cell behind her. “Fine, be that way. I have a little power now, but lots more blood. Let’s see you deal with an Original on steroids. You want me to choose a side so bad? I’m sure Bekah would love to finish the job she started on the bridge.”

Elena was kicking in Rebekah’s cell door immediately, but before a surly Rebekah could speak, they heard two resounding cracks outside, then a thick squelch. Lis squinted in its direction. “I think that feels like Damon.” 

The newly turned vampire was able to wrench the barn door open ridiculously easily to reveal Damon’s silhouette facing away from them on the front lawn of the house, surrounded by three still figures on the ground.

_‘Fuck, are those dead bodies? I think I’m gonna hurl.’_

Quickly moving her attention, she saw someone else was coughing and crawling away; Damon waked over and kicked him hard. Elena and Stefan was by their side the next second, Stefan hauled the figure _Matt?,_ back while Elena kicked Damon’s ass. 

Rebekah and Annalise stayed put, before her friend gripped Lis’s shoulder tightly. “I think it’s time to get home, don’t you Lissie?”

After a quick nod, Lis shut her eyes tight as the world fell away under her feet – she felt as though she was anchored only by Rebekah’s grip on her as they vamp-sped all the way home.

-

The world snapped back into focus when they were in the front foyer of the mansion. Lis swayed, disoriented, just a bit. Rebekah supported her and hissed lightly. “That bitch got her fangs well in your radial artery – you’re not healing fast enough.” Rebekah bit her own wrist and offered it to Lis’s lips. “Here, drink.”

Lis gave her a thankful smile and felt the bitter tang of blood hit her tongue; pins and needles erupted in her wrist. Her wound was gone, knitted over by new skin. She raised her wrist and flexed her fully functioning fingers once more. “Thanks Bekah.”

Rebekah looked away, glaring at nothing. “You’re an idiot, Lissie. You put yourself in danger; again! You shouldn’t have been there. You shouldn’t have been stuck in a small space with the same man who tried to _murder_ you yesterday.”

“Bekah, if I wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have been able to help you get out, or even help Elena.”

Rebekah ran a hand through her hair, “No, maybe that would’ve been a good thing. That ungrateful _bitch_ doesn’t deserve to live. You shouldn’t have been there. _I_ shouldn’t have been there.”

Understanding swept through Lis as she realised where Rebekah was going with this tirade. “Bekah, we’ve been over this before. No one’s perfect.”

“No, Lis. You’re right. It’s true I’ve betrayed him, but I’ve only _ever_ given him a taste of his own medicine. Nik’s deserved everything I’ve ever done to him,” Rebekah turned on her heel and zoomed off in the direction of the living room with parting words muttered under her breath, “This included.”

Lis sprinted, she already heard raised voices coming from their direction. As reached the room, she heard Nik yell loudly, “NO!” and then a wet squelch, like a water balloon popping. The opposite wall was painted red. Rebekah held the last two of Elena’s blood bags in each hand, gripping them tightly. Oh, _no._

Nik looked genuinely worried. “Drop them.” He made eye contact with Lis behind Rebekah’s shoulder; she shook her head helplessly as Rebekah cried.

“I _mourned_ you! My heart broke thinking I’d never see you again!”

Nik put his hands out in surrender and approach Rebekah as if approaching an injured animal. “Put the blood down, Rebekah. There’s a good girl.”

Lis came up behind her and silently put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “This isn’t right, Bekah. Please. It won’t solve anything.”

Rebekah looked at her through tear-filled eyes. “No, Lissie, you don’t understand. No matter how close you think you are to him, he’ll always let you down.” She turned back to look at her older brother. “I was always there for you, not Finn, not Elijah, not Kol, me! I loved you through everything and you didn’t even care!”

“He did, Bekah, he still does!” Lis levelled a glare at Nik. “Nik, tell your sister that you _fucking_ care.”

He angrily gritted his teeth instead. “Drop it!!”

_Wrong answer._

Rebekah’s hands _squeezed_ the blood bags in anger – they exploded, splattering everywhere. Lis was pushed away as Nik rushed and grabbed Rebekah tightly by the throat - she stumbled back, subconsciously wiping off the droplets of Elena’s blood that had spattered on her cheek.

Nik _seethed._ “You know something, Rebekah, you’re right. I don’t care. From this moment on; you’re not my family, you’re not my sister…you are _nothing.”_

Annalise’s breath stuttered as Nik violently twisted Rebekah’s neck with a resounding _crack_ and she slumped to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. He looked towards her, anger still in his eyes. “Be ready to leave this cursed town in half an hour. Meet me at the front.”

-

Annalise had managed to move Rebekah’s temporarily dead body up into her bedroom and tucked into her bed. Before she left to her own room, she had left Rebekah’s phone next to her and sent her a quick text telling her to call her as soon as she woke up. Lis had time to take a quick shower, then packed her belongings, along with her spell kits and potions.

Nik had said they weren’t coming back.

Her free hand ran along the walls of the long hallway, then against the smooth bannister. She paused at the top of the grand staircase, tapping her fingers lightly on the railing while adjusting her heavy bags slightly.

Downstairs was quiet, but active. A low murmur from the hybrids carrying packed bags and various other boxes as they hauled them outside filled the air in a somber manner.

This had felt like home for a short amount of time; now it felt unfamiliar.

She sighed and descended, lightly stepping through the front door and to a new expensive looking jeep that Nik was leaning against, talking to someone on the phone.

She gestured at the bags in her hands, then at the boot; he nodded. Annalise climbed into the passenger’s seat after situating her bags in the back and took her phone out while she waited for Nik to be ready. It had taken her a moment to realise he was back in his own Original body - that second spell of dark magic back at the barn must've been Bonnie making good on her deal with Nik. Well, at least Tyler was free now.

As she settled in the passenger's seat, Lis felt wrong - like she wasn't ready to leave, _shouldn't_ leave, just yet. Like there was something bigger coming, something that would either make or break her. 

She huffed, casting those foreboding feelings away into a crevice in the back of her mind. After the hellish week she'd had - she was just about ready to leave this unassumingly malevolent town in the dust. 

-

They had been on the road for a long time before Nik spoke. “You’ve been smiling at the phone for a while now, Lissie. Who you been talking to?”

Feeling strangely embarrassed, her cheeks heated up. “Oh, uh…just Kol. Some things happened today, I just wanted to run them by him, get a second opinion, y’know? He just seemed a bit annoyed and generally angry about yesterday, so I was just telling him to tone it down.”

Nik glanced at her with a smirk, tilting his head curiously. “And what is Kol worried about?”

"You never know with him. Guy's a total mystery." Lis sobered. “But uh...I didn’t want to add to your plate; there’s been a development with my blood.” He quirked an eyebrow, gesturing her to continue. “Elena was transitioning today, she hadn’t fed, and I didn’t have enough magic to get her out of captivity, so I fed her some of my own blood.” Annalise paused, frowning. “It was like she got this _strength_ , out of nowhere, like my blood was a shot of adrenaline.”

Nik nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. I recall Stefan almost draining you, then holding me down with troublingly little effort. Seems there’s more about you that we don’t know yet.”

Lis sighed and rubbed her head tiredly. “Yet you left me stuck on a farm with him, Nik.” He paused, his grip on the wheel tightening.

“Stefan was there?”

Annalise nodded tiredly, wary of his threatening posture. “Yeah, don’t get any funny ideas, now. I don’t think he was in his right mind last night. He stopped Elena from draining me today. Thank god for small mercies.”

Nik nodded, relaxing minutely, so Annalise asked her questions in a rush. “So, is that why I smell good to vampires? I’ve never really thought about it. Is this gonna be a problem? Do I have like a blinking neon sign above my head saying, ‘Eat Me’, to every vampire we come across?”

He grinned, looking towards the road. “It’s not that obvious, Lissie. It’s subtle. It’s only most noticeable when you bleed. Think of something that brings you comfort, like a warm meal; only the hungry find it hard to disregard.”

“Not helping, Nik.”

“No, listen. It’s not an overpowering smell if you're full. It’s easy to ignore, _you’re_ easy to ignore.”

“Gee, thanks. That’s better.” A dry smirk had him rolling his eyes, grinning. 

“Lissie.” He made sure to look her in the eye. “Stefan has ripper tendencies, ones that _I_ brought out in him; usually he has things tightly controlled, but in the heat of the moment and in that heightened stage of fury? I believe that’s why he nearly drained you. Elena also presumably had a hard time stopping too, yes?” Lis nodded in affirmative. “That’s because she was nearly dying. She was transitioning. Stefan showed no sign of wanting your blood again when you bled tonight, am I right?”

She nodded again. Nik nodded back. “It’s hard to pinpoint your scent normally; personally, I only realised when I'd been around you for a couple days, Kol and Elijah only realised when you’d bled. You’re not in any additional trouble, Lissie. Promise.”

She relaxed in her seat with a quiet exhale. “Thanks Nik.”

He just nodded, his face turning sombre again, and Annalise just knew what he was thinking about, so naturally she poked him. “Rebekah was hurt tonight, Nik. So were you. Siblings fight. It’s only normal.”

Nik scowled. “She ruined my chances of creating my hybrids. I can’t forgive her for that.”

Lis leaned her head against the cool window, still studying him carefully. “Family’s about second chances. Plus, you have 15 hybrids, counting Tyler, Nik. That’s quite a large family, if you ask me. Look, I know you have an endless supply of enemies, but Mikael’s dead, and so’s Esther. You took care of your enemies alone before; you’ll do it again.”

He looked over at her in question, so Annalise just shrugged, elaborating. “You didn’t build your reputation ‘cos you had an _army_ , Nik. You built it because you were formidable and pretty psychotic enough to begin with. You’ll be fine.”

Nik passed her a quick genuine smile, relaxed and annoyingly self-assured once more. 

“Right you are, Lissie. Right you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...new developments :)   
> As you can tell, I've got big things planned! hehe :)   
> Hope you enjoyed. xx


	24. The Rager

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday update!  
> Strong Language  
> Enjoy! :)

This was Annalise’s second time coming to the Lockwood Mansion; the first was back when they had held a wake here for Mikael. She'd never really looked around the interior of the house back then; sure, she had explored a couple rooms, but she really hadn’t taken the subtle grandeur of the classic country mansion in.

At least, that’s what she was trying to pretend to do. It was quite hard when there was a woman, a werewolf to be precise; with long wavy brown hair and a naturally pouty expression, wearing casual jean shorts and a baggy tee layered with a light plaid shirt - glaring piercing holes into her head all the way from the sofa on the other end of the living room.

It had been kind of a new development.

Nik and Lis had been on the familiar road to Chicago – Lis honestly hadn’t been looking forwards to visiting the city where she’d been kidnapped – but she’d gotten over most her trauma, she was like 60% sure, and that was good enough. Plus, she had Original friends now, she felt protected enough. That, and her couple days of recuperation had allowed her to recover; using her magic felt better than ever.

She digressed, back on topic; Carol Lockwood, of all people, had called Nik up and told him of a new hunter in town - he'd been confident enough to target Tyler in front of everyone, at a funeral of all places – Nik had turned around almost immediately.

Never let it be said that Nik didn't care for his hybrids. Well, not exactly, because he looked towards them as an investment opportunity more than anything else, but he still cared, and that was something.

That brought them to their current conundrum; Nik had sent Lis ahead with five hybrids to settle in and wait at the Lockwood Mansion until Carol brought Tyler home from his brief stint in the hospital, and Nik had said they’ll arrive shortly there, after they ran a few errands. They’d just settled in when the doorbell had rung revealing the girl currently giving her a death stare.

Chris, a generally quiet but friendly hybrid, had immediately vouched for the werewolf – Hayley. She had apparently been a part of his pack for a short while, a drifter of sorts.

She had immediately glared at Lis, and made herself comfortable on the plush sofa; she’d been staring at her since.

Lis picked up a small decorative pot plant with bright green leaves in the middle on the kitchen counter and smelled it awkwardly, trying to give her hands something to do.

“That’s plastic.” Hayley’s remark was cutting, judgemental.

Lis immediately felt defensive, “I uh…I knew that. I like the way...plastic uh...smells.”

All she got was a raised eyebrow in return. ‘ _Why was she always so incredibly awkward?’_

Annalise sighed and sat opposite to Hayley in an equally expensive looking armchair. “Okay, no that’s a lie. It’s just hard trying to concentrate on words when you literally look like you’re _ten seconds_ from killing me.”

“You’re Klaus’s witch. Tyler told me about you.”

“Uh…okay?”

Hayley scowled. “Any time I brought you up, he’d talk about how he trusted you, how _nice_ you were. I refuse to believe that.”

Lis huffed amusedly. “Aww, tell the kid I like him too.”

“Then why?” Hayley moved forward to sit on the edge of the couch, “Why would you work for a monster like Klaus? _Willingly?_ You might even be worse than him; at least he doesn’t pretend to be good.”

Annalise leaned back; her lips quirked down. “I, I- don’t.”

“Yeah, you do.” Hayley smirked. “I thought witches were supposed to hate Klaus – he’s literally siring wolves; _taking their free will away,_ how are you okay with that?”

Okay she had had enough. Annalise scowled back at Hayley; her voice was cold. “I’ve never said I was a good person Hayley, and I’ve never encouraged the use of the sire bond – I’m just here to help Nik and make the job easier for him, so he kills less people. I’m his friend, yes. Do I _disagree_ with most his methods? Hell yes. But am I his _babysitter_? I think the _fuck_ not.”

Luckily, or unluckily, since Annaslie was on a roll, she heard more voices in the house – Nik and the rest of his hybrids had arrived. Leaving Hayley silently stewing on the couch, she stalked off into the foyer. Nik approached her immediately, noticing her annoyed countenance. “Trouble?”

Lis ran a stressed hand through her free wavy hair, “Maybe. One of Chris’s old pack came to join us – Hayley, werewolf. Apparently she’s also a friend of Tyler’s. She’s made her disgust towards us pretty clear though, so I’d keep a close eye on her.” Nik looked past her shoulder into the living room she just stalked out of and nodded. She smirked, noticing his interest. “Easy there, at least try hide your glee, please? I’m gonna go upstairs and call Bekah.”

Nik nodded again and patted her shoulder as she walked past him and up the stairs, into a study on the second floor. Once she'd wandered around the study, she'd collapsed in the large leather armchair behind the expensive mahogany desk, hesitated before inhaling sharply, and dialled Rebekah’s number. It rang twice before it was answered.

Annalise spoke first into the staticky silence. “You didn’t call.”

“You left me, Lissie. Alone.”

Lis leaned against the table and sighed. “I know, Bekah. I know I should’ve waited until you woke but we didn’t have time,”

“Why did you leave?” Rebekah interrupted her. Lis shut her eyes and rubbed them from under her glasses.

She chewed on the inside of her cheek as swivelled around quietly. “I just- It wasn’t you Bekah, I promise. It wasn’t even Nik. It was this stupid town. The past week’s was a nightmare; then after that night – Elena saying that she’d much rather have watched me die than risk me hurting her friends in the future; it hurt Bekah. More than I’d like to admit.”

Rebekah was quiet for a long while. “Elena hurt you.”

Lis chuckled sadly. “No, ha, I think I hurt myself. I wasn’t helping as many people as I thought I was helping. I guess I wanted to do more; _be_ more. I just wasn’t enough.”

She could hear her friend pause on the line. “Well, I think you need to cheer up – and what better way than a good old-fashioned anti-curfew party at my house tonight?”

Annalise laughed. “Rebellious. What’s the curfew for?”

Rebekah huffed lightly. “It’s because that hunter shot Tyler in broad daylight – everyone’s on edge. Of course, I’ll be perfectly safe – it’ll be fun, Lissie. Come on, you can make it up to me~”

“Fine, Bekah. See you tonight.”

-

It had been another half an hour chatting with one of the few girls that she had become unsure acquaintances with; Kimberly – or Kim, as she preferred to be called. Kim wasn’t a friendly Hybrid by any means, but she was brutally honest, and she seemed to truly respect Lis. Lis respected her right back; she was truly badass, and Annalise wanted to learn how to fight better. They had trained a couple times, Kim had ran her in to the ground – told her to get back up, and repeated.

Apparently she’d heard of the instances that Lis had dubbed the ‘Week of Horror’ where Lis had been pretty useless because of her lack of magic – Kim had said she’d rather a trained witch protecting her back than a useless one. Of course, she’d also taken to the analogy that Lis had used to describe her magic – like a muscle – to heart, and so Kim had also endeavoured to increase her stamina – both magically and physically. They’d only had a couple sessions – literally two – and each time Lis had walked away fearing her limbs would fall off.

So far her stamina training had been throwing haphazard spells – anything she could think of – at Kim who was vamp speeding around and chasing her – using her as target practice. Wasn’t fun – but it was getting results, fast. Currently, they were talking about what they could do to improve. She hadn't really had formal training before, and according to Kim, Annalise still had to learn about the fundamentals of fighting, like balance, and stances and all the other boring things before she can hit things. Sad. 

Her phone rang, interrupting their conversation; Lis answered, frowning at the saved ID. “Damon?”

“Yeah, paging witchy anti-hero. I happened to hear you were in town, I sorta need your help – I’m stuck in a trailer.”

Annalise felt a flare of annoyance. “Apparently according to you guys though, I’m better off dead – why should I help?” She stood up from the sofa sending Kim a polite smile and receiving an understanding nod back, then walked over to the parlour where she heard Nik talking. When Damon answered, she heard the grin in his voice. 

“Well yes, words were said, necks were bitten-”

“Yeah, mine.” She interrupted, but she couldn’t help the smirk building on her face at Damon’s blasé tone.

“Also yes – so I say live and let live – and help _me_ live? Pretty please?”

She made eye contact with Nik; she gestured to her phone. “Damon wants some help living or something in a trailer - call me if you need me?”

Nik’s lips turned up – “How amusing. Tell them to use their own witch.”

"Oh, good point." She spoke back into her phone. “Yeah, heard that? Call Bonnie.”

“She’s currently otherwise indisposed and not talking to anyone – come on…you in or not?”

Nik shrugged and gave her a quick nod of goodbye as she asked Damon where she should come to.

-

“Well, this is weird. Not exactly what I was expecting? Why’d you do it?”

Lis had been pretty suspicious when Damon had told her to teleport to the edges of town then trek deep into the forest, just to come to an old dilapidated trailer; but she could only sense _him_ in the area – and he hadn’t budged a muscle since she had first detected him.

Against her better judgement – she climbed into the trailer, before pausing, trying to take everything in.

Damon rolled his eyes. “Yes, Lis, I _chose_ to be skewered with crossbow bolts attached to two packs of C4. Why not?”

Lis snuck under his arm, facing him with a cheeky smirk. “Is this a kink thing? I feel like this could be a kink thing.”

He just returned her smirk – “Why, you’ve got me all figured out, haven’t you smarty pants?”

She snorted, crossing her arms. “Why me? Why not Elena, or Stefan? You could’ve _literally_ called anyone else.”

He shrugged. “Because I’m proud, and stubborn, this is child’s play for you, you’re spunky…and oh, look – you’re here!”

Lis couldn’t hold in her amused chuckle as she tapped him lightly on his arm.

Immediately, he appeared a few feet away, still within the trailer – in quick succession, she grabbed the two bolts lightly, not letting them drop and blasting them into oblivion. Damon smirked at her widely. “See? Child’s play – like taking blood from a baby.”

“Jeez, your humour’s fucked up.” Annalise grinned back and placed the bolts carefully on the small table in the trailer, crowded by various distillation equipment and piles of papers that Damon had started thumbing through. She looked on curiously. “What are you looking for? Whose trailer is this?”

Damon glanced up at her quickly before going back to reading a letter he had found; “This is the hunter’s trailer. Connor. But, hey – this look like the words of a Pastor to you?”

Lis grabbed the letter he handed her – she felt her eyebrows climb higher and higher as she skimmed through it. “Damn – ‘a greater evil is coming’, how foreboding. What’s the writing of a madman got anything to do with this?” She ignored her own feelings regarding the ‘foreboding future’, hoping she didn’t sound like a completely shady hypocrite.

“Well it just so happens this madman committed suicide, taking all eleven of the rest of the council along with him – death by gas leak explosion at his farmhouse.”

Lis frowned catching sight of the farm circled on a nearby map – that was odd, to say the least. “The same one that Rebekah, Elena, Stefan and I were held at before we left? Is this a cover-up of some sort?”

Damon’s phone rang – a glance at the phone screen, Elena was calling. Lis’s face soured, but she noticed Damon ignore the call. She raised a brow. “You don’t have to not answer on my account y’know?” He looked away…huh. “Unless you’re avoiding her yourself. I’m guessing Elena made her choice?”

She looked at him sympathetically, it didn’t waver at the small glare he sent her. Lis passed him a small smile instead. “Not my business, I get it. Makes sense you acted out and called one of the people she’s currently on the outs with for help though. I’m kinda offended you used me like this.”

Annalise ended her statement with a joking smile, and received a small smirk back.

“Don’t be – as soon as this hunter business is wrapped up, I’m gonna high-tail it away from this stupid town.”

Lis sighed and nodded in agreement, handing him back the mad Pastor’s letter. “Amen to that mate.”

-

Rebekah’s little Anti-curfew party had gotten out of hand – just a bit. Annalise grimaced in disgust as she walked past the numerous couples literally inhaling each other in the hallways, taking special care to manoeuvre herself around the small sticky puddles of spilled drinks. At least Rebekah had made it clear to everyone that upstairs was out of bounds – it couldn’t bear handle the abuse the front lawn of the house was getting. 

Annalise had been looking for Rebekah…and there she was! The Original turned into the kitchen – Lis rolled her eyes as she pushed through the sweaty throngs of teens dancing to deafening music, trying to catch up to her friend.

A younger looking girl clutching at a plastic cup nervously passed her as she reached the doorway – oh, Rebekah was talking to Elena near the sink. Lis hung back in the doorway, not too eager to have a repeat reminder that she had let Elena down.

She had crossed her arms, reminding herself that she’d probably do more harm if she got involved, when all of a sudden the conversation had escalated and Rebekah grabbed Elena’s plastic cup with alcohol in it, while also seamlessly managing to slip Elena’s daylight ring off her finger without her even noticing – she frowned as Elena startled in the dim sunlight seeping in and sped to cower in a dark corner as her flesh started to burn from the light of the sunset streaming in from the window behind her. Neither girl had yet noticed Lis lingering in the dark shadows of the hallway watching on as Rebekah threw Elena’s ring in the garbage disposal, turning it on spitefully as she sauntered out of the kitchen through the second doorway that lead immediately into the living room.

Her first instinct had been to step forwards, offer Elena help, but Elena had made that choice for her. Plus, it wasn't like she was in any real danger - Annalise was sure that Elena would just ignore her offer of help anyway.

Elena winced as she sped through the sunlight to the sink, to desperately fish her ring out of the garbage disposal, and once she had, Lis felt her eyebrows raise as an ugly loathing look took over the girl’s entire face as she reached into a backpack deposited on the countertop. 

Annalise straightened, her wide eyes following in shock as Elena grabbed the indestructible white oak stake and furiously made to follow Rebekah – she was just about to teleport and warn her friend when Stefan sped in front of Elena. Annalise cast the spying spell to listen closer as Stefan talked her down. “Well, if you want to kill her,” He stepped to the side. “I’m not gonna stop you.”

Jeez that’s _not_ how you talk someone down from committing murder Stefan! “But see, here’s what’ll happen: it’ll feel really good for about ten seconds, and then after that, tens of thousands of vampires all over the world will start to die.” Huh…Better. “Every vampire she ever turned will die. See, rage is a really powerful feeling but guilt? Take it from me…it’ll destroy you. So, you can either go after her, or you can get on the back of my motorcycle and get the hell out of here.”

Stefan smiled as Elena visibly stood down and passed him the stake, Lis watched with careful eyes as he placed it back in his bag. It was easy casting an inconspicuous spell and slinking silently behind them through the hallway out the front door, and down into the front yard below.

Rebekah called out to the leaving couple, making them pause. “Leaving so soon?” It was clear her pout was fake – she wasn’t even trying to hide it.

Elena stopped and turned with a defiant smile. “No, not just yet.” Lis’s alert eyes trailed after the bag she handed Stefan. “I never got a drink.”

Elena sent a final smirk at Rebekah before walking to a keg placed in the middle of the front lawn – expertly manoeuvring herself upside down over it, she started chugging the beer. The crowd roared in approval and even Lis shot her an impressed look before focusing back on the matter at hand. 

Moving so she was right behind Stefan’s bag, she snuck her hand in out of the partially open zip, and touched the stake lightly, imagining her bedroom dresser. She smiled to herself when she felt it disappear from under her touch. Annalise then snuck back into a shadowy corner in the crowd and teleported up to the empty second floor, dropped all the spells she was holding, and fixed her large jumper and denim jacket to ward off the chill, before walking out to join Rebekah on the porch watching Elena do a keg handstand as if she had just arrived.

She nudged Rebekah – the girl did _not_ look impressed at all as Elena lowered herself down again and clumsily wiped her mouth free of beer in victory, walking away without a second glance back at them.

Rebekah suddenly swayed; Lis put her hand out to steady her immediately. “Going a bit too hard on the beer, Bekah?” Her friend’s gaze was unfocused, “Bekah?”

Looking closer, Lis whispered out a _“Holy shit!”_ before hauling her friend into the house and up the stairs, teleporting them both to her friend’s room as soon as the coast was clear.

The dark veins that had started creeping up Rebekah’s face and wrists was a painful looking black-red – she set Rebekah in bed as she started muttering something about Matt.

The sound of something breaking downstairs made Lis curse out loud – she couldn’t keep an eye on an out-of-control party _and_ Rebekah at the same time. She grabbed a hold of Rebekah’s hand and tried to channel her healing magic into her – the veins didn’t recede immediately. _Shit._

Grabbing her phone, she hit the speed dial – “Nik?”

“Lissie, currently a bit tied up, love. Well, I have someone tied up is more accurate. Damon and I currently have the hunter trapped in the hospital, isn’t that neat?”

“Cool, Nik. I think Rebekah was poisoned, she has these painful looking veins on her skin and she’s really delirious. My magic didn’t look like it helped.”

Nik was quiet for a moment. “I think I may know what ails her – I’ll call you back soon.”

Lis threw her phone on the large bed in frustration and settled herself in the desk chair next to Rebekah’s bed, still holding her hand. Shit, she hoped Nik got back to her soon. 

-

Annalise woke from her small nap feeling off as she shifted on the comfortable chair; she frowned – there was something missing, something she couldn’t quite put her hand on.

A creaky floorboard echoed in the outside hallway – but it was otherwise silent…What on earth had happened to the party raging on downstairs?

As she made to stand up and investigate, there was a tug on her right hand; Rebekah was still holding it. She was awake - her eyes seemed weary, but a lot more lucid, the veins on her face had also reduced a large amount.

“Bekah, oh, thank gosh! How are you feeling?”

Rebekah smiled at her wearily. “Yeah, I’m fine Lissie,” She frowned in confusion before looking at their connected hands, “Actually, I think I’m better than fine – I think you helped.”

Annalise was about to reply, but the same girl who had brushed past her on her way to the kitchen walked into the room, knocking on the doorway politely. “Hey.” She smiled quickly at Lis. “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m April Young.”

She nodded back, smiling unsurely. “Uh, I’m Lissie.”

Lis and Rebekah exchanged a confused glance as the girl continued into the room and picked up a couple stray empty cups that had somehow made their way upstairs on to Rebekah’s dresser, and looked toward the blonde Original. “Way to bail on your own party.”

“I just – I just needed a minute, did everyone leave?” Rebekah sat up, leaning on Lis lightly for support, and stepped out of bed.

April turned and clutched at the rubbish bag she was holding, passing them an awkward smile. “Yeah, deputies weren’t actually super-happy about the anti-curfew party.”

How adorable; Lis smiled warmly at the girl. “Really? Who’da thunk?”

April passed her a dimpled smile back.

Rebekah was still wary though. “Why are you still here then?”

April shrugged, looking away. “Um, honestly? Picking up trash is a hell of a lot better than sitting at home thinking about the family you no longer have.” She noticed Lis’s eyebrows climb high in confusion. “Oh, uh…my dad was Pastor Young, he died, recently.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Lis smiled sadly, her eyes darting to Rebekah as her friend approached the teenager with no wariness in her expression this time; clearly empathising with her.

“Hey, uh…if you want, I could…I could help you look into what happened with the fire at your farmhouse.”

April’s eyes grew large as Lis smiled proudly at Rebekah. Look at that…Rebekah is literally the softest vampire – no one can convince her otherwise. “What are you going to be able to do that I can’t?”

Lis chuckled and walked to Rebekah, throwing an arm around her. “Oh, April Young…You’d be surprised.”

April smiled uncontrollably wide and nodded, Lis’s heart swelled. She finally felt as though she was doing something good again.

-

Her phone rang again. “Damon, this better not become a regular thing.” Lis sighed.

“What are you talking about? I’m just calling up to update my tiny little helper.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes, leaning back on Rebekah’s dresser. Rebekah was currently downstairs helping April clean up, talking her through her father’s death. “Okay, one; not your helper, two; I know you and Nik had Connor tied up in the hospital a while ago.”

“Well, that _was_ a while ago. Shortly after that, he was blown to bits by two packs of C4; no idea where _that_ came from, and Klaus was gone. So, now there’s only one thing to do; and that’s celebrate a job done, drinks?” She could hear the smirk in his voice as he replied.

Annalise giggled before what he said caught up with her. “Wait, what the hell did you mean _blown to bits_ by C4? I thought you guys were at the hospital.”

“We were.” Damon seemed oddly smug about it.

“Oh my god, why do I put up with sociopaths?” Her head hit her free palm as she released a stressed exhale. “Was anyone hurt? Do I need to come by and heal some people up?”

Damon shuffled on the other end of the line; she could hear his footsteps echo as he started walking. “Nah, but careful; you’re starting to sound like the good doctor.”

Lis scowled at the floor. “You mean Dr. Fell? Yeah, look – I’m still pissed off at her for trying to off me with a pool ball. Not cool.”

Damon chuckled lowly, before steering back the conversation to his previous question. “So, how about that drink, Lissie?”

Annalise straightened before walking a few steps and dropping onto Rebekah’s bed with a sigh. “I need to know ulterior motives too, dick. I know you have some.”

“ _What?_ You wound me-“

“Drop the bullshit, Damon.”

“Fine. I wanna pick your brain about something Klaus said – what does ‘the Five’ mean to you?”

Lis frowned. “No, I’ve no clue. Sorry, I really am.”

Damon sighed from the other end, his footsteps slowed down and gradually stopped as he hesitated just a bit. “Well, anyway – the alcohol offer’s still open; you’re not half bad, I wouldn’t mind your company.”

Annalise chuckled lightly before she exhaled, growing serious. “I don’t think you need my company tonight, Damon – you said you’d be the hell out of Mystic Falls as soon as this Connor business is up, but you’re still here. I think you need to get some good-old fashioned closure first; talk to them – Elena and Stefan. Figure it out, then, if you still need company after that – sure, we can get drunk together.”

Damon huffed, sounding a bit annoyed. He started walking again. “You know who you remind me of? Lexi. Did you know a Lexi?”

Lis rolled her eyes and sat up. “Good night, Damon. Have a good one.”

She ended the call through his sarcastic protests with a grin. He was funny, sure, but she still hadn’t fully forgiven him for what he had done to Rebekah...and her liver would probably hate her for it, if she was being honest.

Annalise stood and made her way downstairs to join the girls plan a way to get answers about what happened at the farmhouse; she needed something to focus on, this seemed like a good enough distraction.

-

It was quite a while later when she received a call from Nik – she excused herself from the girls and stepped away for a bit, ignoring Rebekah’s eye roll.

“Nik? Bekah’s fine now – she said it was werewolf venom – it’s a dick move you let her suffer instead of coming to give her some of your blood.”

Annalise could see him shrug if she closed her eyes – she was so familiar with his mannerisms now. “Well, if my darling sister didn’t ask me herself, I saw no reason to release her from the suffering she induced on herself. But enough about that,” Lis chuckled when Rebekah lifted her middle finger in her direction at Nik’s comment. “I need your services here, at the trailer – the one you seem to have familiarised yourself with this morning when you were helping Damon out.”

Waving a hand in goodbye at a shy April and a pouting Rebekah, Lis shrugged her jacket on, exiting the house. She frowned. “What are you doing in Connor’s trailer? Last I heard he was blown to pieces.”

“Well, slight complication, Lissie.”

Visualising the trailer, she appeared before it the next instant; she pulled the door open before pausing. Nik proudly gestured to the bound, gagged and very _undead_ hunter on a secure chair – “Seems that he’s just become a lot more important than I was initially led to believe. What do you know about the Brotherhood of the Five?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Fun fact; Lexi is honestly one of my favourite minor characters from the TVD cast - and it just got me thinking...what if Klaus had a Lexi?  
> This was mainly a filler chapter setting everything up for what's coming. ;)  
> Hope you enjoyed! xx


	25. The Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wednesday Updates hereee!!  
> WARNING: graphic depictions of blood and torture, Strong language  
> No Beta.  
> Enjoy!

Nik had enlisted her help in teleporting the hunter; Connor – to the Mikaelson Mansion and she had watched, feeling sick as he was strung up on this strange medieval torture contraption that Nik had produced from his dungeon.

The rest of the night had been filled with him giving her a quick overview of the group of hunters that called the Five. Apparently they were supernatural, to an extent – stronger, faster, more blood thirsty (not literally) hunters – out for _any and all_ vampires that existed. He had refused to tell her anything further, or why he was so extremely happy to have learned that Connor was part of the Five. He’d said he didn’t want to explain twice, instead, he told her to get her rest, she’d need it for the next day.

Unfortunately, Lis hadn’t slept well at all; she was still plagued by nightmares of feeling suffocated, drained of blood...and random glimpses of black fire that her parents had called on to _kill_ her had made a guest appearance. Her near death had awoken memories she’d put to rest a long time ago. Now sleep just felt as restless as her waking hours.

The morning found her tiredly nursing a large cup of coffee next to Nik, who was naturally sipping on bourbon, in the Mystic Grill. She had been over the moon to hear Nik tell her that he was looking for his sister – that there’s a way she could be considered forgiven in his books, so she had pinpointed Rebekah heading at human speeds in the direction of the Grill – that, paired with her knowledge that Rebekah had experienced a fevered hallucination of Matt last night due to the werewolf venom consolidated her thoughts. She had flashed Nik and herself over to the Grill and promptly sat and ordered a large coffee. As she sipped at it, Annalise happened to remember something from the night before; she nudged Nik lightly.

“Hey, I forgot to tell you,” She lowered her voice to less than a whisper, “I got my hands on something last night – something of the pointy stabby-stabby variety – something your mum made for you. It's cute and bedazzled.”

Nik’s smirk grew large as he clapped her back lightly. “Perfect, Lissie. Thanks. One less thing to worry about. Hand it over when we get home.”

Matt had given her a small smile when he had brought over her coffee – turns out he still trusted her to some extent. Annalise was incredibly glad, maybe she _was_ doing something right. She smiled widely again when he passed by once more, carrying an empty tray back behind the bar. The bell jingling at the opening of the door made her eyes dart over – but she already knew who it was, as it was the same signature she’d been tracking for the last ten minutes

Rebekah didn’t seem to notice her and Nik seated at the bar as she made her way over to Matt confidently. Lis’s brows raised when she dropped an expensive looking pair of car keys on the counter top.

Lis was just close enough to eavesdrop on the conversation – sue her – she wanted Rebekah to be happy, dammit.

Matt clearly looked down at the keys looking puzzled. “What’s that?”

“The key to your new truck,” Rebekah leaned closer, crossing her arms over the counter top, smirking. “It’s parked outside, paid for, insured, everything but a big red bow.” Rebekah looked insanely proud of herself until disgust filled Matt’s expression, he stepped away lightly.

“If that’s your idea of an apology, you should probably give it to Elena. She’s the one that you killed.” The young blond boy left Rebekah looking distressed; Lis winced in second-hand hurt at Matt’s sharp retort.

Nik, being the total dick he is, chose this moment to speak up and draw Rebekah’s attention to them, rubbing it in. “You’re trying too hard.”

Lis shoved Nik, he casually remained unmoved, but watched on as she tried to regain her balance on the high stool – once she did, she scowled at him and sent Rebekah a supportive smile as she reached them. “Well, _I_ thought it was a very well-thought-out practical gift. It’s just the timing, and I don’t think Matt likes things being given to him – this might’ve looked like pity charity to him.”

Rebekah returned her smile hopefully. “Yeah, maybe Lissie.” She turned her annoyed gaze to her brother. “See Nik? That’s how you deliver constructive criticism, _not_ by snapping your only sister’s neck, then leaving her to suffer werewolf venom.”

Lis took a large swig of coffee and hummed in agreement. Nik just smirked. “Well, here’s a way for you to make it up to me, dear sister. I’ve stumbled across something that might interest you.”

Rebekah snorted and leaned on Lis, smirking. “Doubt that.”

Nik lifted an entertained eyebrow. “No? Well what if I told you the brotherhood of the Five still existed.”

Rebekah sat up looking startled. “What?” Annalise looked on, more intrigued than before; this must be pretty big for Rebekah to react like this.

Nik smirked – clearly he had been expecting this reaction from his sister. “You see? And just like that, we’ve moved past our differences in opinion. Come on, loves, work to do.” Nik stood up and moved past Rebekah casually, expecting Lis and Rebekah to follow behind. Lis rolled her eyes, chugged the last remaining bit of her coffee, grabbed Rebekah’s arm and pulled them behind him in annoyance. _Such_ a diva.

-

The second Lis flashed Nik and Rebekah into the room that Nik had decided to hold Connor in, she rubbed her eyes tiredly, trying to blink away the sudden shivers and flashbacks being choked and bitten by the familiar energy lingering in a dark corner of the room. “Hey, Stefan.”

Nik looked deeper into the shadows that the closed curtains cast in the room with a smirk, as both he and Rebekah moved so they were each at one of Lis’s slightly shaking shoulders. “Looks like I’ll need to beef up the hybrid security detail.” She smiled thankfully as Rebekah slipped a hand into hers

Stefan stepped out into the light; his face was set grimly. “I was gonna take him, but I figured you went through such trouble to truss him up in your red room of pain.”

Annalise grimaced, looking away, but Nik walked up to the vertical table-like contraption holding Connor up, quite proudly. “It’s from the inquisition, I thought it was a nice touch.”

Stefan raised a judgemental brow towards Lis – she shifted uncomfortably, still avoiding his eyes, the nightmares flashed in her mind as she looked away, clearing her throat, then tried to cover it up using humor. “The second Connor’s off that thing, I’m setting it on fire, don’t tell Nik.”

Stefan shook his head at her and walked closer to the bound hunter. Nik act faux insulted; Rebekah walked past Lis to stand next to him, tilting her head to study Connor. “How’d you even know he’s one of the Five? Where’s his bloody tattoo?”

“Oh the tattoos aren’t visible on this lot like they were on the last.” He dismissively waved his hand in at Connor, before turning to Stefan. “Why are you still here?”

“Call me curious.” Stefan shrugged. “What’d you get out of him?”

Lis threw her hands up in the air behind the trio casually talking about torture. And Stefan had the _gall_ to look at her funny.

Nik smirked at Lis’s reaction while he replied. “Not enough. He’s mum about the council fire and he’s not saying anything about this greater evil we’re supposed to be shivering over. What brings you snooping?”

Stefan stepped back, his wary eyes were still watching Connor, who in turn was clearly listening in om their conversation. “Well, I can’t say it in front of him. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, our friend here can’t be compelled.”

Huh, that’s new. Did that technically make him a different species then? Faster, stronger; almost like a werewolf without the added benefits of needing to turn while simultaneously breaking all the bones in your body, _or_ being effected by wolfsbane. So then what constituted as their weakness?

Annalise saw Rebekah and Nik exchange a knowing glance before turning to Stefan. “Thankfully, we know plenty enough between us.” The Originals walked out of the room and gestured Stefan and Lis to follow. “Shall we?”

Nik lead them to the first-floor study she had spelled with the Privacy spell months ago – he waited until everyone had settled; Stefan and Lis sat in an armchair each in opposite ways; Lis curled up comfortably facing away from Stefan, who sat rigidly in his own. It was in her best interest to ignore him – easy, right? Rebekah and Nik sat next to each other on the comfortable couch, facing them.

Nik spoke first, directing his question at Stefan. “So what’s with the home invasion? Curiosity isn't a good enough reason, you aren’t too welcome here.” His gaze flicked in Lis’s direction.

“Damon said you knew something about this guy.” Stefan leaned further back into the armchair and made himself more comfortable. “Now, I should’ve figured out that you were up to something when you healed Elena from the werewolf poison without asking for anything in return.”

“You did _what?”_ Rebekah whipped her head around to face her brother, but he quickly held his hands up placatingly. Lis’s mouth turned lightly down in disappointment at Nik as he tried to backtrack.

“I knew Rebekah would be fine, and that Elena didn’t have much time left because of the potency and the amount she ingested. When I was done, my sister had already healed.”

Lis frowned in confusion; something wasn’t adding up. “Less than a week ago, you were telling Bonnie that Elena’s not your problem anymore ‘cos she’s a vampire. What changed?”

Stefan also directed his questioning glance at Nik – “I don’t have anything to do today, except get answers out of you. Humour me.”

Rebekah and Nik exchanged a cautious glance once more, Nik looked at Stefan, mind made. “Stefan, I only tell you this because it may prove to be beneficial in the future to have you on our side – this is the story of the Brotherhood of the Five.”

Rebekah scowled and sat back as Nik continued to speak. “The Brotherhood of the Five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters. We crossed paths with them in the 12th century Italy. My siblings and I had followed the Normans as the conquered the South. Feeding, turning people as we went. But with the bloodshed, came exposure. It was just our luck that Rebekah managed to carry a torch for one of the hunters.”

Lis tilted her head, processing before passing a quick concerned glance at Rebekah looking away sourly. Stefan frowned. “So these hunters have been around for nine hundred years?”

Nik smirked. “Apparently. Though our friend in the other room is the first I’ve seen since then. Kind of makes you wonder what they’ve been up to all these years.”

Stefan raised a sceptical brow. “And Rebekah had a thing with one of them?”

Rebekah whipped her heated gaze at him, scowling. “I wasn’t a _thing._ I fell in love with him – we told each other everything…” She trailed off looking away again.

“Except, of course, the part where you were one of the very things he hunted.” Nik interrupted smug. Lis threw a pillow at him as she saw Rebekah’s face fell.

“You’re being a dick.” Nik looked ready to retort so Lis shrugged at him. “Hey, remember you happen to need her for something? Play fuckin’ nice.”

Stefan watched this entire exchange only looking a bit amused. “I still don’t know why you’ve allowed me here though.”

Nik turned back to the vampire looking entirely too self-satisfied. “Let’s just say this; that hunter in there holds the answers to all your prayers. So Rebekah,” he turned to his sister who was still glaring at him angrily. “I need some information.”

“I’m not telling you anything until you apologize.”

Nik sarcastically turned to face his sister fully. “For which indiscretion? There have been _so_ many.”

Lis let her head fall tiredly into her palm. “That’s worse, dipshit.”

Rebekah agreed, indignantly. “You _broke_ my neck.”

“You threw away Elena’s blood so I can’t make any more hybrids.” Nik had started to glare back just as angrily.

“Because you took me for granted!”

“That’s what big brothers _do_ , sweetheart!” Nik’s voice had risen to match Rebekah’s – there was a small pause.

Lis smiled to herself while Stefan huffed in annoyance. “Let me just name the million other people I’d rather be with right now.”

He was ignored by everyone. Nik sighed at Lis’s prompting glance. “Alright, fine. I’m sorry. I often forget how delicate you are. Forgive me?”

Rebekah crossed her arms primly, but no longer looked quite as hurt as she did before. “I’ll take it under consideration.”

“Okay, good.” Stefan leaned forwards impatiently. “Now that’s out of the way, tell me how Rebekah’s hunter holds the answer to all my prayers.”

Nik glanced at Rebekah, and she nodded, settling back into the sofa, giving him permission to continue. He turned back to Stefan and Lis. “Right, Alexander. Nice chap, foregoing the obvious issues. He was looking for creatures of the night, which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings. We wined and dined him; then, he revealed that the Five had been bound by fire in the last breath of a dying witch to a single cause; the destruction of all vampires.”

Lis hummed to herself in understanding – there’s the catch to being supernaturally enhanced – you had to spend every waking moment bound to one singular will of a dead witch. Made sense, in a twisted way – they were to serve the will of the witch, the will of nature, until their last dying breaths. One hell of a drawback to being on supernatural steroids.

She listened closely as Nik continued. “They planned to achieve this by using the ultimate weapon which no vampire can survive.”

Stefan didn’t look impressed at all. “So, that’s what this is about? A weapon.”

Rebekah broke in, “Not just any weapon.” Her solemn tone had Lis straightening slightly.

Nik raised a hand at her. “Rebekah, love, don’t get ahead of the story.”

Stefan was growing impatient once more. “How is this relevant to me at all?”

Rebekah and Nik exchanged another glance, Lis sighed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. “Guys, you know I love your dramatic asses, but I can’t believe I’m starting to agree with Stefan, can we _please_ get to the point?”

Nik smirked at her. “Not quite yet, Lissie, because in order to find the weapon, we need to solve the puzzle – which seems to have disappeared.”

This was turning out to be quite a treasure hunt, wasn’t it? A noise of comprehension escaped her when Annalise put two and two together. “Is this disappearing puzzle related to the disappearing tattoos by any chance?”

Nik pointed at her proudly. “Right on the first go. It’s a map – leading us to the treasure.” Lis smirked – this _was_ a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, she called it.

Rebekah didn’t seem as jazzed about the idea as Nik and Lis did. “Fat lot of good a tattoo’s gonna do if we can’t even see it.”

“We can’t, but someone else can.” Nik pulled his phone out and sent a quick text, ignoring everyone’s questioning glances. “You see, the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of his mystery tattoos that he mentioned there was only one person that can see them.”

The study door opened revealing Tom, Mindy’s hybrid friend, hauling Jeremy in. Stefan blurred to Jeremy’s side, but he was halted in his tracks by Nik. “I wouldn’t. Lucky for us, young Jeremy here, is a bit of an artist.”

Tom passed her quick grin as she tiredly dropped her head in her hands again. “Nik, what have I told you about kidnapping children?”

Her efforts were ignored as Jeremy spoke up, seething at Nik. “I’m not helping you with anything.”

Tom suddenly grabbed Jeremy’s hand, sliding off the Gilbert ring in one smooth movement and tossing it to Nik. His job complete, he nodded at Lis once more and exited, closing the study door slowly.

Nik held up the ring smugly. “Oh, I’m afraid you are.”

Lis just wished she could sleep this tiring day away.

-

Jeremy had been moved into the room with the vampire serial killer-assassin to draw the tattoo. It wasn’t something she had been completely okay with, but since Stefan seemed to be more annoyed than concerned for the kid’s safety, she decided to leave it for now.

She watched tiredly as Stefan and Nik settled back in their respective seats, exchanging a raised eyebrow with Rebekah.

Stefan leaned forwards once more. “So tell me more about this tattoo treasure map.”

“My sister’s suiter was unwilling to tell us anything.” Nik looked sideways, smirking at his little sister. “Rebekah, however, was more than willing to investigate. Isn’t that right?” Rebekah looked down, ashamedly not meeting anyone’s gaze. Lis frowned as Nik continued insensitively. “My sister’s boyfriend threw a slumber party that night. He and his brothers put us all down in our sleep. Elijah, Kol, Finn and Me.”

Lis saw Rebekah’s face fall as Nik looked at her. “How was I supposed to know?” Rebekah’s voice was small, fragile.

Nik shrugged leaning back, ready to say something further – Lis sat up straight and levelled him with a small glare. “Nik, stop.”

Fortunately, Stefan was impatient enough for the story to continue; that or he felt sorry for Rebekah judging by the unreadable glance he threw her, either way, Lis felt she was a step closer to forgiving the man as he spoke, changing the subject. “I thought the daggers didn’t work on you because of your werewolf side.”

Nik grinned wide. “They don’t.”

He theatrically paused for a moment, letting that statement sink in – Lis couldn’t begin to imagine the bloody carnage that his bloodthirsty smirk told of…It was at times like this she second-guessed herself, whether she was making the right decision sticking by them or not.

Thankfully she didn’t have to stay in her horrid thoughts for long; Nik spoke up again. “Go ahead, Rebekah. Tell them. Tell them what the hunter told you the tattoo leads to. What is this great weapon that could bring about the end of the vampire species?”

Lis sent a supportive nod towards the silent girl; she nodded back weakly. “A cure. He said there was a cure.”

Annalise’s eyes shot wide, still trying to process the sheer absurdity of the statement as Nik casually stood from the couch. Stefan sprang up, following behind Nik desperately – desperate for it to be true, most likely. “ _There is no cure for vampirism_.”

Rebekah sighed dropping her head into her left hand braced on the arm of the couch. “He’s telling the truth, Stefan.”

Lis spoke up. “I believe you guys – I do. Why doesn’t everyone know about this though?” She was still trying to sort through the implications of a _cure_ for a _supernatural condition –_ did it work on anyone? What constituted as the _default?_ Mortality? Would it just start your body clock from where it froze?

Nik poured himself a glass of blood from a nearby decanter. “Because, Lissie, when the hunters drew their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their body; the map was gone, the Brotherhood of the Five – extinct. For nine hundred years, there was not a whisper of another hunter, until our friend in there showed up in town.”

Rebekah crossed her legs, leaning back. Well, now we have the map, what do we do next?” Nik hesitated for a moment – that was all the time Rebekah needed to come to her own conclusion. “You don’t trust me, do you? After everything I’ve done, after everything we’ve been through!” Her voice got progressively louder near the end, more anguished. “I’ve stayed with you, and I’ve let you leech every moment of happiness from my life!” She stood angrily. “You know, at least I fared better than Finn, Klaus left him daggered because he was tired of his judgment.”

For some reason, Nik’s eyes had searched for Lis’s instead of staying trained on his angry sister. She gave him no reaction, and instead looked to Rebekah. Annalise heard him chuckle lowly. “Finn was a dullard. He was more interesting lying in a box.”

Rebekah’s face showed a greater anger before a look of comprehension filled it. “You want the cure for Elena, don’t you?” She moved closer, confronting Nik. “So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids. That’s why you let Stefan stay here, because you knew that he’d help you even though he hates your guts!”

Rebekah took a step backwards as Nik’s smirk remained unmoved on his face – his eyes, however, were oddly solemn as Rebekah said her parting words. “You know what? You can shove your cure.”

With that, Rebekah stormed out of the room in a huff, slamming the library door behind her. Annalise chewed on her lip, thinking; it wasn't like Nik to just set Rebekah off, especially if he needed something from her. Stefan filled the silence, moving towards the door, motioning to Nik. “Well, I hope you got what you wanted out of her before you chased her off.”

“That’s the point, wasn’t it, Nik?" Lis stood up slowly too, drawing their attention. "You know she’s made up her mind – there’s no way Bekah’s ever letting Elena get her human life back. So, you planned ahead; making her turn _against_ you means there’s only two allies she could turn _to._ Stefan and me – you controlled all your variables like- like a giant game of chess.” 

There was no way around it; Nik was always ten steps ahead of everyone; he was a goddamned paranoid _genius,_ and Lis couldn’t deny that she wasn’t at least the smallest bit impressed.

Nik smirked at her before turning to a stunned Stefan. “The map is useless without the tool to decipher it; the sword.” Stefan seemed to move to object but Nik just talked over him. “She knows where it is. And you’re gonna get her to tell you. You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that’s gonna destroy her. You can call it a deal with the devil, if you’d like, but you know you won’t walk away from it.”

Stefan stared at him for a long moment as if he was about to prove each of Nik’s assumptions wrong, but he didn’t. He simple nodded at Lis, and vamp-sped out of the Mansion.

Nik moved towards the window, looking outside at the greenery – it was bright, the afternoon sun filtered through the tall study window in long straight rays. He sighed. “You manage to keep surprising me Lissie. You’re smart.”

Lis shrugged and moved closer to him. “No, it’s just logic, and I like to think I know you well enough by now.”

Nik studied her for a long moment before grinning slightly. “Maybe.”

She smirked lightly and nudged him; “I’m taking that as a compliment, _prick.”_ Her smile dropped slowly. “I don’t appreciate what you said to Bekah, how you manipulated her. Even how you managed to manipulate Stefan into doing what you want by throwing the idea of a cure at him, it all rubbed me wrong.”

Nik smirked callously. “Your emotions have been taken into consideration, Lissie, thank you.”

Annalise joined him in leaning against the windowsill, looking out at the grand water feature in the middle of the round driveway. “There is one thing I don’t understand though.” She turned to Nik with a frown, trying to talk through her thoughts. “It’s been running through my mind ever since you mentioned the cure – sure, I get it – using it for Elena is the obvious choice for you, but I _know_ you. You’re paranoid to the extreme; and you’re a genius at that, there’s no way you want the _cure_ to exist; not if you want your enemies to grab a hold of it. Your list of weaknesses end at the one and only white oak stake remaining in existence and I’d bet everything I _own_ that you want the list to stay that way; chance to get more hybrids or not.”

Nik sipped at his drink a while longer. “You really do know me, Lissie. Too well.” His expression was the most serious she’d ever seen, it was even tainted with resignation, and loss for a split second – like he’d made a decision he didn’t agree with. All of a sudden his familiar smirk was back, throwing Lis off balance. “Speaking of the stake; you said you had it this morning. Where? Is it safe?”

“Oh- uh…yeah. It’s just up in my room. Under my beanbag.” Her phone buzzed – Rebekah was telling her to come to the Salvatore Boarding House. She flashed the message at Nik, then walked over to the door, still speaking. “It’s the safest place on earth, Nik. Only you, Bekah and Kol are allowed access into my room. Speaking of…” She looked over her shoulder smiling slightly at a still solemn Nik. “I’m gonna tell Kol about this – maybe he could help us fill in some blanks.”

Nik nodded before looking away outside again. Lis just shrugged and teleported to the front of the Salvatores’ - after sending a quick message to Kol about coming across The Brotherhood of the Five, she helped herself indoors.

She entered the parlour and faced Stefan and Rebekah in conversation – Stefan was classically pouring himself and Rebekah a glass of bourbon each. At the sound of her entering the room, Stefan looked at her and gestured at the bourbon – wordlessly asking if she wanted some. She looked away from his eyes – _his blood thirsty eyes, fangs snarling-_ and focused on the intricate stitching of the expensive looking Persian rugs at her feet as she came to stand next to Rebekah while Stefan gave the blonde a glass. “I wanted it back then, you know? The cure. I was willing to leave behind my family for it.”

Lis tilted her head, looking at Rebekah in a new light – it made sense though; she was far too loving. She smiled warmly at Rebekah who reciprocated, before turning back to Stefan. “Would you take it if you had the chance? Or is it just for Elena?”

Stefan frowned at the glass in his hand, swirling it. “A part of me wishes that she and I could have an eternity together. But Damon’s right; there’s not a single vampire who hasn’t killed a human. Elena will kill and then there will be the pain, the guilt, and then…”

“You’re afraid she’ll lose her humanity; that she’ll flip the switch.” Annalise offered. Stefan smiled at her lightly, and for the first time since she’d nearly been killed by him, she managed a small understanding smile back. His phone buzzed – she was too far away to read what the message said, but she saw his face fall lightly, then recover. When he looked back up at her, he seemed sad, resigned and hesitant; but he answered her anyway.

“Yeah, Lis. Elena’s driven by love; by compassion. If she turns off her humanity, then I don’t think we’ll ever get her back. So, I’d do anything to save her.”

Rebekah was also smiling sadly listening to Stefan speak. “I envy that. You and Elena. I envy the love that you have. I really did believe Alex when he said he loved me. He promised we’d be married.” Lis saw her friend tear up, and hugged her side in silent support. “We even picked out a church. San Vittore in Brienno. I know you want my help, Stefan. But I can’t do anything that lets my brother get what he wants.”

Lis sighed. “Bekah-” She was ignored as Rebekah moved out of her hold stubbornly, setting her glass on the table before turning around to walk back towards the front door.

Stefan’s spoke up at Rebekah’s retreating back. “I didn’t answer your question.” The Original turned around curiously, Lis paused as well, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“If it meant that I got to be with her, have children, grow old with her. If it meant that we’d die together, be buried together, then yes. I’d take the cure.”

Rebekah was visibly moved by his statement, she spoke up, reluctantly. “I buried him. Even after everything. I laid him to rest under the place we were to be married. What kind of hopeless fool does that?”

Lis’s heart felt like it dropped to her feet – Rebekah noticed Lis’s sad smile drop too; the pieces came together in her mind. “Oh, but that’s what you wanted to know, wasn’t it? Because I buried him with his sword?”

Lis shut her eyes at the raw pain on Rebekah’s face, unable to look at it any longer. It was when she shut her eyes that she noticed a large familiar energy shining in the doorway. _Nik._

Her eyes flew open at the sound of his low voice. “I’m sorry little sister, but you’re right.”

Annalise noticed a flash of silver in his hand – _no-_

She flashed in front of Rebekah – shielding her body with hers. “No, Nik, _no.”_

She was pulled to the side, pulled into Stefan’s arms the next second and she _froze_ just barely hearing the apologies murmured in her ears _–_ flashbacks of blood, lightning, glass, fangs, _blood, so much blood but not enough in her-_

She watched unresponsively as Nik daggered Rebekah in a flash before she could get away – her friend’s body fell to the floor with a muted thump. She watched, but she didn’t react, didn’t relate, it was as if she was watching through detached eyes as Nik walked closer. A chilled tear ran unbidden down her cheek as she tried to find her words while she remained petrified in Stefan’s hold.

“Nik – I, this _isn’t right-”_

A slow hand petted her head slowly, familiarly. Annalise felt herself relax minutely as the _killer-ripper_ hands left her shoulders and she was safely deposited into a hug in Nik’s warm arms.

“Shh, shh. Lissie. You were right, you know? You know me. You said I would never risk my list of weaknesses grow any further. You’re right.” Annalise stilled in his grip, listening closer – this was odd, wasn’t it? Why did he sound apologetic? Maybe it was because he was sorry about Rebekah…yeah, that must be it, why else-

Something cold slipped over her neck, she startled backwards – but she heard Nik mutter the words she dreaded next. “ _Pomeno.”_

Searing pain ripped through her once more in vengeance as the Vasanistirío Medallion _burned_ at her chest. She fell to her knees with a whimper trying to keep back her screams of agony. The tears that fell down her face no longer felt cold, instead they were warm, thick, oozing. She distantly heard Nik yell at Stefan to get out, but she couldn’t concentrate – choke, another choke, a cough next – something coppery escaped her mouth, dripped onto the lovely wooden panelling on the floor.

She felt someone crouch next to her. A wave of agony wracked her body once more as she flinched, she lost her balance, fell, gasping, writhing. Instead of the hard wood greeting her, arms cradled her gently, doing nothing to the pain of knives carving out her insides, her _soul-_

Nik’s face blurred into view – everything had taken on a red tinge, she gasped in pain. “I’m sorry, my dear friend, I truly am. Although you’d be incredibly useful in the coming days, I can’t have you interfering in this. I know you’ll understand, won’t you? I called a witch – had this necklace modified so you won’t wake early like last time. I truly am _sorry._ ”

Annalise writhed, her eyes shut, she felt more blood leak and she felt _pain, then anger, then sadness_ and the world started to fall away. She blinked her eyes desperately, trying to call on her magic her magic but oh- _it hurt._

As her eyes slid slowly shut, she saw the dim light of her dropped phone turn on – Kol’s name flashed serenely in the caller ID.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me?


	26. Memory Lane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, thank you for the love last chapter!!!  
> A little bit of fluff because I made you guys kinda wait for it.   
> Warning: canon-typical violence, strong language.  
> Enjoy! :)

The darkness, the pain – neither seemed so penetrative anymore, in fact, she could feel something different than pain for the first time in what felt like decades of torture. She was waking up.

She was slightly aware of her limbs being moved, a wet cloth running down her face. She was being dressed. A faint voice – “You stopped bleeding out today, I don’t know whether I should be thankful or horrified…At least you don’t have to sleep in crusty blood anymore, now that I’ve cleaned you. Sorry I can’t do more.” The solemn voice faded away, was that Kim?

She couldn’t concentrate; she was being carried now, familiar arms – she felt herself being carried through a familiar barrier of energy…her room? Her bed welcomed her when she was laid gently under the covers – it was too tiring to stay conscious. She surrendered to the darkness willingly.

-

Another few eons passed; figuratively, probably. She wandered close to the surface of consciousness a couple times – it allowed for a few stray thoughts to breach her languid mind. How was the necklace hurting less? How was she even close to conscious as she was? She came to the realisation a few moments later…she had put up a plethora of spells and charms in her room – long ago she had described it as a checkpoint in a video game – that meant it had healing properties too.

Strangely, time seemed to pass quicker after she realised it, it was easier to float up, drift in a soft haze. She felt safely detached from her sore human body; Lis had tried to reconnect but the second she had tried, the pain set in. She wasn’t too eager for a repeat. The agony that used to be soul-deep was now muted – almost unnoticeable; as if something was shielding her soul from it. Lis appreciated it to say the least.

Then one day, it all changed. What felt like a huge weight, was lifted off her chest, and Annalise inhaled deeply, taking in a lungful of fresh air as if breathing for the very first time. But then it transformed into a gasp of pain as it felt like her soul had crash-landed in her painful shell of a body violently – the force with which she woke was enough to send her gasping as she sat up straight. Her eyes snapped open wildly, taking in the gentle stars that blinked at her through the large window in her room, the armchair next to her bed that had been over by her dresser before, and a shifting silhouette on the other side of her bed, his face cast into shadows by the dim moonlight filtering in.

Annalise panicked, scrambling backwards; reaching painfully, instinctually into herself to draw forth her magic to defend herself before snapping back away as if scalded by her blistering pain, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood to stop a whimper from escaping through her chapped lips – she would _not_ appear weak.

The silhouette held their hands up, the medallion hanging off one hand caught the light of the moon, she glared at the shadow.

“Relax, darling. It’s me.” Kol’s face moved into a beam of moonlight, smiling at her – a sheer contrast to the anger his dark eyes carried. Annalise tried to smile back, but her gaze flitted back to the medallion threateningly staring at her. That _thing_ made her recoil, as if she was nothing but a wounded animal. Kol traced her eyeline before comprehension dawned – he set it down on her bedside table gently. Annalise felt herself relax immediately, her fingers felt sore from clutching at the bedsheets too tight, it was quickly overpowered from how uncomfortably tender and raw her body felt. Curling in on herself, she let out a small groan.

Kol was at her side in an instant, supporting her back, holding her up. He held out a pair of familiar glass frames – giving him a thankful nod, she pushed them on. His arms curled around her supportively once more. Annalise couldn’t help but collapse in his hold as he spoke.

“What on earth happened, Lissa? You text me about the Five then you drop off the face of the planet for the next week and a half? Why did I find you with one of the darkest cursed objects to ever exist on your neck?”

Annalise tried to breathe through the pain, she curled up further into Kol’s hold, facing his chest. His arms tightened reflexively around her; his leather jacket felt cold under her cheek as she managed a strained chuckle. “Why, did you worry about poor little me? How touching.”

She looked up at Kol to see a grin appear on his face at her parroting his words back from Denver. A small amount of amusement danced in his black eyes, overshadowed by a great deal more of something that she never thought she’d see; concern. “Well. It appears I had a right to worry.”

Lis’s smile dropped slowly. She looked away, before she pushed away a small amount, groaning while levering herself off the bed into a standing position. Kol’s hand’s hovered around her waist as she did, she passed him a small smile backwards before unsteadily walking towards the door. Despite the fact she felt as though her limbs were about to fall off, she _had_ to leave...it had been nearly two weeks, _two weeks_ of that _fucking_ necklace. All she had to do, was put one sore leg in front of the other, then balance. Small steps. 

“Where’s Nik? Lissa, what on earth happened?”

“ _Nik_ happened, Kol." Annalise paused and turned to face him as he unsurely stepped closer to her, her eyes had grown moist. "We found this hunter – he was one of the Five. Rebekah was trying to sabotage Nik getting the cure – he tried to retaliate, then I was just in the way.” She sighed and winced as she grabbed a warm jumper and pulled it gently over the pyjama shirt and sweats that she’d been dressed in. “Nik daggered Bekah, then used the Medallion on me – said he didn’t want me interfering.”

A dark expression crossed Kol’s face, instead of focusing on how that made her feel worse than she already did, Annalise spotted her phone lying on the dresser and checked it quickly – someone had kept it fully charged.

Was this the same person who had moved her armchair and sat at her bedside for who knows how long? He was guilty then. Annalise’s eyes narrowed in anger – his guilt didn’t mean _shit_ to her if he thought he could get away with this with a light slap on his wrist.

A strong shudder ran through her already weak body, and that feeling of sheer unnaturalness settled in her bones once more – she would’ve collapsed had it not been for Kol steadying her gently again, his arm was tightly curled around her shoulder. His gaze was still confused, questioning and dark – she wished she knew what that meant. She beat back the heat rising to her cheeks at his proximity, and instead Lis grit her teeth trying to stand straighter; she didn’t like feeling this helpless, _dammit_. “I have to give a while for my magic to come back, but I can still sense things in nature – it seems someone’s practicing dark magic near the Lockwood Estate – a lot of it.”

Kol hummed and steadied her as she limped down the stairs as fast as could. “You think it’s Nik.”

Lis nodded. “That’s what I’m counting on – that spot’s a favourite of his.”

He grabbed her elbow gently, making her pause “And if he _is_ there? What are you going to do? You said it yourself, you don’t have your magic right now.” His tone was angry, but it still held caution; she understood. This _was_ his brother they were talking about.

“Look, I get it. I’m not gonna go postal at Nik for quite literally torturing me. I’m better than that.” She ran a hand through her hair, wincing as it got caught on a few tangles. “I’m just gonna tell him that I kindly quit from his fuckin’ tyranny. Reckon he’ll accept a punch as my letter of resignation?”

Kol smirked as his eyes twinkled with amusement. “Oh, I’m sure he’ll be more than inclined to, darling.”

-

They had reached the town square a few minutes later – Kol had offered to vamp-speed them there and Lis had reluctantly agreed; her heart had been pounding in her chest as she’d held on for dear life, she must have been more scared than usual. They had been halfway to the Lockwood Estate before she had felt Nik's familiar magic brush her senses. They’d reached the abandoned looking party – plastic chairs and balloons decorated the space, beautiful Christmas lights twinkled serenely on the decorated trees and a snow machine was still showering the cold ground with flakes of white. 

The tranquil silence was disrupted abruptly by a sudden scream that cut off almost immediately. Without a second thought, Lis had pushed the pain of moving her stiff limbs into a dead sprint to the back of her mind, and focused on reaching where the scream had originated from. A plethora of reasons as to why a woman was screaming at this time of the night ran through her mind – none of them were good; especially considering she felt Nik there as well.

Annalise could never have predicted the sight she saw when she arrived at the stone fountain in the middle of the town square, however. Amidst the scattered and empty chairs and the cheerful decorations, Nik was kneeled next to the fountain – one hand holding a long _real-_ looking sword stained dark with what she hoped wasn’t blood; his other hand was forcing a struggling woman’s head under the water of the fountain, drowning her.

Annalise froze in horror as the woman fell limp – _no._

Nik stood up, he must have sensed them behind him – he froze as well. Annalise could care less about the confusion, horror then empty acceptance that flitted through his eyes, no, she was already hauling the woman, _Mayor Lockwood?!?_ out of the fountain and starting chest compressions and CPR. She pushed hard on the thin woman’s chest, pacing her breaths and keeping her rhythm.

“1, 2, 3, 4, Come on, come on, _come on!”_

This wasn’t working, she needed her magic, she needed to warm Carol’s cold _unnatural_ clammy skin _-_

The Mayor’s body convulsed; Lis turned helped her onto her side with a relieved laugh, patting her back to help her expel more of the water inside her lungs. “Oh my god, Mayor Lockwood. That’s it, deep breaths. You gave us quite the scare.” 

Lis kept patting her back as Carol took in choking lungful’s of air, wheezing hard, before turning to her and coughing heavily. Once it subsided, she looked around in terror – Lis hadn’t realised Nik was gone – only Kol remained, standing a fair distance away. Lis gave him a quick nod before turning back to the mayor who was looking at her in fear. She smiled shakily back. “I suggest you get home quickly Madam Mayor. Do you have a ride home?”

Carol nodded distractedly looking along the ground and locating her discarded phone. “Ye- Yes. My son’s coming.” Her voice croaked. Lis shot her a sympathetic smile, helping her stand up slowly, supporting her weight.

-

The mayor had been staring at the fountain where she’d almost lost her life detachedly when Tyler finally arrived.

“Mom! Mom, thank god!” Carol rushed and captured her son in a strong hug, finally sobbing. Annalise smiled sadly at the pair, taking a couple unsure steps backwards and turning towards Kol. A shout from behind her had her turning back around – Tyler engulfed her with a grateful hug.

“I can’t even begin to thank you for this. I won’t ever forget it.”

Lis grinned lightly at him. “No worries, kid. You’re good. Go home and stay safe.” She frowned, remembering something. “Hey, unrelated. Do you know about anything related to dark magic that happened just before, near the Lockwood cellar? I felt something big happen.”

Tyler’s face fell as he choked up. Clearing his throat, Tyler replied. “Uh- yeah. They’re all gone Lis, the hybrids. Klaus killed every last one of them.”

Lis staggered back in shock, lifting a hand to her chest. “Nik _wouldn’t…Why?!”_

Anger flashed in his eyes as he looked away. “It was Hayley – she tricked us into breaking the sire bond – hell, she even used you to convince them; they liked having you around, y’know? Apparently it had all been to convince Klaus into killing 12 hybrids.”

Her breath stuttered as she tried to work through _why,_ she barely felt Kol come up to her side – she only noticed after she saw Tyler grow stiff in fear or anger. His glare at Kol softened as it settled back on Annalise as she spoke, trying to get her thoughts to make sense. “12, like- like the _mass murder at the farm?_ That can’t be a coincidence, I-”

“You,” Kol touched her shoulder softly, directing her startled gaze at him, “can figure this out later. Right now, you need to rest, darling. You’re dead on your feet.”

As she shook her head, she noticed a considering look flicker in Tyler’s eyes as he watched them carefully; she frowned at him – but he also nodded; looking as surprised as she did that he agreed with Kol. “He’s right, Lis, you need rest. Nik kept you up in your room, none of us could get in. We freaked when you finally stopped bleeding; we thought you died. How are you even on your feet right now?”

His words reminded her of the ache in her bones that she had pushed into the back of her mind – she winced slightly as it returned full-force. Annalise still managed a sad grin at Tyler, though. “Turns out Nik didn’t also know that I had a healing spell set up in my room – it must’ve helped. Go on home, kid. Stay safe. Call me, if you need anything.”

Tyler shot one last unsure glance between the pair before nodding, taking his weak mother by the arm and turning her away.

Kol and Lis turned away too. “The mansion?”

Lis nodded, the next second they were blurring through the small town, stopping at the doorstep of the huge white house. It was quiet – too quiet. Lis detangled from Kol’s lingering grip on her waist while exchanging a cautious glance with him, before walking in.

Nik was lounging on his favourite armchair in the study – _chilling,_ for the lack of a better word – with a glass of bourbon in one hand and a sword balanced casually in the other, laid across his lap. He had splatters of blood on his person – Lis inhaled lightly – how much of blood was Kim’s? Alex’s? Tom’s? His disinterested gaze landed on her, making her stiffen.

“I see you’re up – and I see I’ve got my dearest little brother to thank for that fact.”

Lis exhaled sharply, not rising to the bait. “A _fucking sword,_ Nik?”

Annalise was as surprised at herself as Nik and Kol was at her; of all the questions she could’ve asked – ranging from ‘ _why would you hurt me?’_ to ‘ _Why would you try to murder an innocent woman?’_ ; what she asked wasn’t even on the list.

Nik recovered quickly and smirked at her. “You remember Alexander – Rebekah’s little crush, don’t you Lissie. This is his.”

Right. “The sword that decodes the map that leads to the _cure, of course.”_ She hissed out the last few words in anger. “I was clearly wrong – I don’t know _shit_ about you. You probably wanted the cure so you could wipe out all your hybrids and have a new batch of all-obedient _fuckin’_ slaves.”

Nik’s face stuttered blank, he stood threateningly. Lis felt Kol move closer to the pair to stand defensively against Nik. “I wouldn’t come any closer, brother.”

Nik scowled at his little brother heavily before focusing back on Lis. “They _betrayed me.”_

“They broke their sire connection to you, Nik! They wanted free will!” Lis’s voice was raised. Nik strode closer; Kol stopped him with a hand on his chest, pushing him back slightly as Annalise continued speaking. “That’s not betrayal.”

“They were going to leave; _they had no loyalty to me-”_

“Maybe that’s because they saw how you treated people who _are_ loyal to you.” Lis finally let out the hollow laugh that had built in her chest. 

Nik paused with narrowed eyes but stopped trying to actively get past Kol. It looked as though the fight had drained out of him. Annalise smirked dully. “You know, a long time ago – you said you wanted the hybrids because you wanted family. You treated them like _workers,_ Nik. _Servants._ Family doesn’t mean unquestioning loyalty; it means betrayal, it means disappointment, and arguments; because at the end of the day, _despite_ everything we go through – we go through it _together,_ because we _choose_ to be there for each other. Without _choice,_ it’s all _fucking meaningless._ ”

Silence permeated the air for a long moment – Nik was focused on the floor, dully considering her words; Lis just sighed, feeling pity linger for the socially-inept man in front of her. 

She ran a stressful hand through her probably wild-looking hair, avoiding Kol’s unreadable gaze. “Look. I was going to leave tonight after finding Bekah -” Nik looked at her in what looked like dull acceptance, before his eyes flicked to something over her shoulder in shock.

“No need, dear Lissie.” On hearing a lilting feminine British accent behind her, she whipped around in delight, capturing Rebekah in a tight hug. Her friend chuckled as she patted Lis’s back.

“How are you even here? You were daggered.” She mumbled into the hug, before releasing Rebekah and stepping back slightly.

“Thank April Young.” Rebekah shrugged. Annalise felt her brows raise.

“Wait, she knows about the supernatural?”

“Appears so. She certainly does now.” Rebekah shrugged joining Lis’s side and facing her two brothers, tilting her head while trying to decipher the situation in front of her. “Kol, you’re here. What’s going on?”

Kol threw a smirk at Nik, looking absurdly gleeful that everyone in the room stood against Nik. Lis rolled her eyes as he spoke up immaturely; but frowned when she realised that Kol’s eyes looked livid in contrast to his deceptively light tone. “Shortly after you were daggered, it appears our lovely brother incapacitated Lissa using a cursed necklace – one of the darkest magical objects possibly to ever exist – it’s said that it eats your magical soul away. I’m surprised she’s still standing.”

“ _What?”_ Rebekah exclaimed while Lis inhaled in quiet alarm – Esther certainly hadn’t shared that little morsel with her. Her eyes involuntarily flicked towards Nik, who happened to already be looking at her in regret.

“I didn’t-”

Unable to meet his guilt-ridden gaze any longer, she spoke over him soflty. “Kol, do you think my magic’s gone?”

Kol tilted his head at her in thought before shaking it, walking closer. “No, no I don’t think so Lissa, you were able to sense the magic around you earlier – witches who’ve lost their power, they can’t feel anything.”

Annalise passed him a brief thankful grin while Rebekah sighed, turning to her.

“So let me get this straight.” She pointed at Nik. “He, put you in a temporary torture limbo, because you didn’t agree with his choices, huh?” Rebekah shook her head in disappointment before shrugging and turning to Annalise with a slight smile. “It appears Nik’s found your equivalent of daggering; consider that your official welcome into the family, Lissie.” 

She couldn’t help it, Annalise rolled her eyes at her friend; shoving her hard. “Shut _up_ , Bekah.”

-

It had been almost a week since Annalise had woken; and to be honest, it hadn’t been eventful at all. Kol and Annalise had holed up in her room, practicing her slowly returning magic through her pain; Bekah had been away with April Young, planning a nefarious scheme to get back at Elena, and by extension Nik. And Nik, well, he’d been flat-out ignoring her – the few times that he _was_ home, he’d spend it hidden away in his drawing room.

Annalise still hadn’t forgiven him for the hybrids; sure, she hadn’t known most of them well. In fact, she’d only known them in passing despite the fact that technically she’d spent a relatively long time with them. It’s just, after Mindy, Lis really couldn’t be bothered putting in the emotional effort to become good friends with any of them; that, and Nik took up too much of her time. But Kim, Tom, Alex…she was starting to get tired of losing so many damn friends. Annalise hadn’t forgiven Nik for nearly killing Mayor Lockwood for that matter either, so maybe he was never around because she glares at him each meagre time she manages to cross paths with the suddenly elusive Hybrid.

Kol had a different theory; he thinks Nik’s avoiding her because he still feels guilty about what he’d done to Lis.

She’d honestly done a whole lot of soul-searching while staying up late into the nights, letting the moon’s energy wash over her as she meditated. It’s not that she hated Nik, not fully, anyway. But Annalise _had_ known what she was getting into; she’d just gotten too close, too familiar. This was her fault. Lis would be fooling herself if she ever thought that she’d ever mean as much to them as they did to her. Rebekah's words were just words to make her feel better at the end of the day. 

Mother had always told her that she was too clingy; she had always complained when little Lissie had begged to hold her hand in like she’d seen other kids’ parents do. 

This was pathetic, _she_ was pathetic.

But the in the lazy hours of Saturday afternoon lounging in the warm sun, she hadn’t _felt_ pathetic as she’d talked Kol’s ears off about _bubbles,_ and how forming them excited her so much because it required acute skill in manipulating both air and water gently and simultaneously – he had just looked on with a permanent smirk, relaxed in her beanbag with her journaling grimoire spread open on his lap, and recommended she form a little flame in the bubbles and try to balance _three_ elements simultaneously instead.

Annalise was currently rolling her eyes at Kol chuckling at her demise; she had accidentally increased the oxygen concentration inside the soapy water just a bit too much, and the small flame she had conjured exploded in the extra gas, covering her in small suds. 

Her phone vibrated suddenly on her dresser; Rebekah was calling. Lis accepted the call as Kol kept chuckling in the background.

“What’s up Bekah?”

“Is that Kol _laughing?_ I take it you aren’t in blinding pain every time you practice magic anymore?” Her friend was smirking, she could just tell.

Annalise faced her floor length mirror in the corner of her room next to her dresser, and reached up to wipe off small amounts of foam gathered in her hair, huffing as she replied. “Nah, I’m practically fine now, and Kol’s just being a brat. But hey, what did you need from me?”

“Not you, you still need your rest, Lissie. Kol’s not picking up his phone.” Rebekah sighed, Kol stood up to join Lissie curiously. “I need him to run an errand for me,”

Kol raised an interested eyebrow as Lis put the phone on speaker out of polite habit, despite knowing both siblings could hear each other perfectly because of their super-hearing.

Annalise paused looking at him quizzically when he stood closer than he needed to, nearly toe-to-toe, and leaned in to lift his hand, gently brushing at her hair. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him with wide eyes, very unsure of what was happening.

He just smirked at the blush that had darkened her cheeks before showing her the foam he’d removed from her hair casually. “What’s in it for me, dear sister?”

“Carol Lockwood’s stood down as Mayor this morning, there’s was a speech at the school. I managed to get my hands on a few slippery do-gooders as a result. Interested in raising a little bit of general mayhem, brother?”

Kol immediately grinned wide mischievously; Annalise just sighed. She should’ve known the lazy days wouldn’t last. Here’s to hoping this wouldn’t end too badly.

-

Annalise was currently bored, humming along to a soft pop song drifting lowly from the radio, her head was leaning against the window of the brand-new Lexus that Kol offhandedly remarked that he’d compelled for himself. Figures, _that little arse,_ but Lis honestly couldn’t bring herself to care enough.

She sighed when she heard an excited squeal of a group of girls echo in the parking lot of the Whitmore Campus carpark – Rebekah had sent the pair to the college to pick up an occult professor named Atticus Shane – apparently he was the wealth of information that everyone was drawing upon for the cure.

Kol had made her stay in the car as Rebekah had told them that Bonnie was on campus; they didn’t want anyone catching on to the conniving plan they’d hatched. Annalise honestly couldn’t be bothered with it anyway – as long as they didn’t try to kill and maim anyone, they could have their fun and terrorise people.

Huh...so that’s where she still drew the line? Hurting kids and innocents? Maybe she hadn’t lost herself just yet. 

The car’s back door behind her opened suddenly as Kol pushed an utterly average looking professor in; well, averagely-dressed. He looked a bit too good and bit too young to be a college professor. She raised an eyebrow as he looked panicked in the backseat and tried the handle of the door that Kol had managed to put the child-lock on – he caught on her gaze as Kol climbed into the driver’s seat with a smirk and started driving away.

Annalise passed the jittery professor a sympathetic look; his curly black hair messed up from being dragged into the car and the whole cute-scruffy thing he had going on was making her feel bad for him.

“Hey, uh…welcome to being our kidnap-ee for the day. I’m Lis.”

Kol passed her an amused smile. “Are you seriously giving our captive information about yourself?’

Lis pouted at him before turning back to the confused looking professor. “Ignore him Professor Shane. He’s a jerk.”

He nodded at her uncertainly. “Okay...”

Annalise smiled brightly at him as Kol just scoffed. The drive to the Mystic Falls Highschool was otherwise silent.

-

Lis was half a step behind Kol as he hauled Shane through the large double doors leading to the library – they had walked in on a strange sight. Elena, Caroline, and Stefan were all sitting around a small table in the middle of the library – Rebekah was standing over them, arms crossed. She turned as they entered. “Ah, Kol. Perfectly on time. You must be Shane.” She addressed the ruffled man. As Shane was pushed further towards Rebekah, the table saw her behind Kol - Annalise froze visibly as Stefan’s sorry - _but cold, bloody-_ gaze fixed on her. 

Bekah was the one who drew attention to her ashen face. “Lis? What’s wrong?”

Kol immediately looked back at her, followed her petrified gaze to Stefan before scowling and grabbing her wrist, pulling them into a large maintenance/cleaning room to the side of the Library. Rebekah pushed Shane in behind them – sending him careening into an empty mop bucket. Annalise winced, but stayed put leaning against the door as the two siblings approached the cowering man.

Despite the looming threat over his head – Shane was staring at the siblings in awe. “Kol? As in Kol and Rebekah Mikaelson…two members of the Original family. This is such a trip.”

Annalise frowned at his knowledge before shrugging to herself. The names of the Originals was pretty common knowledge amongst the witch community – after all, that _was_ how she’d known who Nik was when she’d first met him.

Rebekah grabbed his shoulder and looked him directly in the eye to compel him, not in the mood to entertain their captive. “Where’s the cure?”

The professor smiled shakily. “Compulsion won’t work. It’s a little trick I picked up in Tibet.” Annalise’s eyebrows flew up her forehead – _why on earth wasn’t this common knowledge, like vervain was?_

Rebekah dismissed the statement as Kol’s smile grew worryingly larger. “Well. We’ll just have to do this the old-fashioned way.” She grabbed a broom leaning against the wall near her and chucked it to a smirking Kol. “Beat him until he tells you where to find it.”

That had Annalise standing up straighter and approaching the pair. “Jeez, Bekah. You know I know a truth spell.”

Kol rolled his eyes. “Ugh, you don’t have to take the fun out of everything Lissa.” But he still moved to the side and allowed her to crouch down to the professor’s level.

“I don’t care how you do it, as long as I have an answer by the end of the hour.” Rebekah sighed and left the room impatiently. Whatever was going on in the other room must be way more entertaining.

Lis smiled pityingly at Shane as she reached out and laid her palm flat against his chest, ignoring Kol threateningly point the broom at Shane as he went to move away. “ _Veritas.”_

She felt her eyes burn a familiar silver, and saw Shane’s eyes grew wide. “ _You’re-”_

“She’s _what?”_ Kol had threateningly pressed the broom into Shane’s chest as the professor had suddenly grabbed Annalise’s hand still spread flat on his chest, holding it tighter against him.

Shane’s eyes hadn’t left Annalise’s confused gaze, staring at her in utter admiration. “She’s here. You’re here. You’re amazing.” He breathlessly mumbled to himself.

Lis cleared her throat and detached her hand from the professor’s chest – unsurely standing up and backing away, blushing. Kol frowned harder before tossing the broom aside and pulling Shane to his feet with his collar. “How do you know her?”

“The same way anyone knows about anyone.” Shane chuckled to himself, eyes still trained on Annalise. “I’ve heard of her.”

Lis hugged herself unsurely and approached Kol’s side. “Where did you hear about me?”

Shane shrugged, grinning. “On a trip. Silver eyes as beautiful as the stars; he wasn’t lying. He knew you’d be around.”

Kol’s grip tightened on Shane’s collar as he pulled him over to a sink – he clogged it and turned the tap on. “Who told you about her?”

Lis reached out to touch Kol’s shoulder unsurely. “Kol?”

He shrugged her off and brought a smiling Shane closer to his face. “ _Who_ told you about her?”

Shane’s unsettling grin never moved from his face – Kol plunged the professor’s head into the sink full of water, holding it there. Lis gasped in shock before _pulling_ Shane free of Kol’s grip in a panic and positioning the spluttering and gasping professor behind her, facing Kol’s livid gaze.

He scowled at her. “Darling, we’ve been through this before. _Don’t_ keep trying to rescue people I’m trying to maim.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, I remember, and I also remember what I said to you afterwards. You try hurt me again, I’ll make you regret it. There’s no _reason_ for you to torture him, Kol.”

She turned around to Shane once more – he was still smiling at her. “That was amazing – the way you used magic to _push_ an _Original_ away-”

Annalise had recovered from her shock at being treated like royalty; and she just wasn’t feeling it. It was creepy. She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “ _No_ , I don’t wanna hear anymore, I don’t care. Where’s the cure?”

Shane grimaced, clearly trying to keep something in. “It’s in a place – beautiful.”

“Where?”

“You have to hike to get there.”

“ _Where exactly is the cure?”_

“It’s in his hands!” Shane paused; eyes wide – he had let something out that he wasn’t supposed to. Kol and Lis exchanged a glance.

Kol stepped closer to Shane threateningly. “Who’s hands, Shane?”

Shane’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly just as Rebekah entered loudly through the door. “What’s taking so long?”

Kol smirked at his sister. “Seems Shane’s found a way around Lissa’s truth spell. He’s being a _bit_ too specific. Be a darling and take her outside so I can finish torturing him in peace, would you?”

Lis scowled at him as Rebekah walked to approach Shane, curiously. “You’re human. Why do you want it anyway?”

This time, it seemed that Shane couldn’t find a way around answering – in fact, it seemed like he was almost glad to. “That’s the beauty of this. You can have it.” He grinned in a gleeful manner that seemed out-of-place on his youthful face. “I just want Silas.” He looked towards Annalise as if he was sharing a secret – one that she was in on.

Her heart thudded in her chest and her breath seized. She almost missed Kol seize Shane and hold him up by his shirt again. “No. What do you know about Silas?”

Shane’s wild eyes never left Lis’s shell-shocked ones. “He’s the world’s first immortal being, who just happens to be imprisoned with the cure…and I want to free him.”

Annalise stumbled back; Rebekah was steadying her as Kol was too busy shoving Shane's head once more in the water. It took her a moment to feel the unsettling weight of dark magic settle across her shoulders originating from Shane – connecting him to someone – he was currently struggling for his life in Kol’s grip.

Lis held her hand up and used her magic to push Kol off Shane again, allowing him to fall backwards, choking in large lungful’s of air. The dark magic in the air lifted. Kol’s scowl towards her faltered at the empty expression on her face. Rebekah looked between the pair and sighed, running a hand through her hair, turning to Kol.

“He’s no use to us dead.”

Kol gestured at Shane on the ground angrily. “Did you not hear what he just said? Silas will kill us all, sister.”

Rebekah shook her head, ignoring the way that Lis leaned against the nearby wall for support. “Silas does not exist. He’s a-a fairy-tale made up to scare children into eating their vegetables.”

Shane chuckled lowly from the ground. “Silas is very real, ask your friend – she seems to know.” Both Kol and Rebekah looked to a shell-shocked Lis staring unresponsively at the ground before turning back to the professor. “I know where he’s buried, and soon, I will have the spell that wakes him.”

Kol shook his head in denial. “Wait a second, you’re lying. You can’t get to him.”

Shane’s eyes sparkled victoriously. “Without his tombstone? Dozens to die in a blood sacrifice?” Lis’s heart stuttered; the farm mass murder, her _hybrid friends, standing in front of her scowling coven leaders-_ “Believe me, I know. I’ve done it. Those massacres are a pain to engineer.”

Rebekah seemed to reach the same conclusion. “You’re the one who got the council blown up.”

“And the one who made Hayley manipulate Nik into killing his hybrids.” Lis faintly whispered.

Professor Shane grinned, standing up slowly. “It was a noble sacrifice…and temporary, because once I raise Silas, Silas will raise the dead. He will bring back every last soul who died on his account.”

Lis exhaled shakily as her eyes filled with tears. “You- you lost someone.”

Shane looked at her as if the words she’d uttered filled the world with hope. “You _understand._ He was _right._ You are all- _loving._ ” He approached her as Rebekah and Kol watched on – Lis felt tears escape her eyes as Shane kept talking. “You lost people too, haven’t you? When Silas rises again – he will raise anyone you’ve lost, he will raise _everyone.”_

“No!” Annalise was jarred from the Shane’s intense gaze as Kol violently buried a metal pipe deep into the professor with a yell.

It was quiet for a moment, only Annalise’s heavy breathing filled the air. Rebekah was glaring heavily at her brother, Annalise’s gaze was trained on Shane’s body – the feeling of dark magic had permeated the air once more, most concentrated around still body spread on the floor.

Kol broke the silence first. “You should be thanking me.”

Rebekah glared harder at him. “You killed my only chance at finding the cure.”

Lis inhaled sharply. “Uh…no. Bekah, I think he’s still alive,” Kol looked at her incredulously. She gulped, wetting her dry throat. “I mean, he’s dead, right now. But something’s keeping him tethered and connected to this side using dark magic. He’s going to wake up again.”

Kol sighed before leaning down to grab Shane’s feet. Rebekah stopped him. “What are you doing now?”

“Clearly, he can’t be killed right now, so I’m putting him someplace safe. I can’t have him completing his bloody mission. Silas on the loose would be hell on earth.” Kol straightened up and pulled the indestructible white oak stake from inside his jacket pocket as if he were trying to prove a point. “Frankly sister, I don’t think you could handle it.”

Annalise looked at him, feeling slightly betrayed. “You got that from my room? Is that why you’ve been helping me the last few days?”

His dark eyes flicked to her before he wordlessly stashed the stake back in his jacket, moving to lift Shane onto his shoulder. Annalise spoke up quickly, trying to get over the pang in her chest at his dismissal. “Wait. He can’t be working alone. People will realise he’s missing. I say we make him think _we_ think he's dead – let him lead us to everyone he’s working with, _then_ we take care of it.”

_­_

Kol and Rebekah both looked at her in slight shock. Rebekah voiced her uncertainty. “Lissie. Is everything okay? You don’t usually suggest killing people.”

Lis rubbed a hand tiredly down her face. “No, no- I’m not suggesting we kill them. But, Silas – I-It’s bad news Bekah. I’m scared.”

Kol walked closer and gripped her shoulder in support at her admission, before nodding. “Fine, we do it your way. Come on. We can talk at home.”

“No, no. Uh…you guys go home. Go home before Shane wakes up.” Lis grabbed Kol’s hand from her shoulder and dropped it after a small squeeze, still feeling a bit stung about being used. It had tarnished her few peaceful memories of the last few days. He stepped back, something like hurt flickered in his eyes. Rebekah approached her unsurely. “Lissie? What’s happening? What do you know?”

Annalise ran a hand through her hair before she realised how hard her hands were shaking. She clenched them tightly. “I think I know-” She cut herself off. “I need to uh…I need to check something out. I’ll be back soon.”

Rebekah stepped closer to her. “We’ll come with you, Lissie. Where do you need to go?”

Lis shook her head and stepped away from the siblings watching her with concern. “No, I think I need to go alone. I need to go back to Australia.”

The next second, Kol and Rebekah stared at the empty space where Annalise once stood – they were quiet for a second, they exchanged an uncertain glance, then blurred out of the cleaning room just as Professor Atticus Shane took in a shuddering breath and returned to the land of the living.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is enough to make up for the hell I put Lis through last chapter lol, but I should warn you, this fic's main theme is her friendship, romance comes second.   
> So, what do you think Lis's connection to Silas is? *cue evil laugh.   
> Hope you enjoyed!!


	27. The Caelis Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the Wednesday update, love the comments the last chapter hehe <3  
> Prepare yourselves for the long chapter ahead, it's pretty explanation heavy.  
> Strong Language, No Beta.  
> Here are all the answers you've been waiting for!!  
> Enjoy!

Annalise found herself staring at her old run-down home detachedly; the garden was overgrown to the point where the grass had browned and tangled together in a mess, and the flowers on the usually trimmed bushes grew everywhere in abandon. Parts of the roof of the old house was caved in, revealing the rotted timber skeleton underneath bared open to the world. It was desolately beautiful, like an old cottage from a fairy tale...or more likely a horror story evidenced by the eerie manner the light of the moon hit the peeling white walls. Yikes. 

Lis sighed. No, she wouldn’t find answers here.

Annalise wasn’t surprised to see an old ‘ **Condemned** ’ sign hanging from the garden gate in all honesty - as she made her way up the craggy driveway, she understood why her parent’s coven didn’t bother with the general up-keep of the house. After all, who'd want to go near a home that once housed the so-called demon-child?

Plus, she doubted anyone even lived in the general vicinity anymore. Her home hadn’t been the first destination on her little impromptu trip – Lis had first visited the small deserted town hall, the rest of the houses on her block, the dusty community playground – it was as if the whole witch community had never existed here. Cleaned out, like ghosts.

A rustle sounded behind her, making her heart leap to her throat.

Annalise whipped around, promptly freezing in her tracks when she faced an old Indigenous lady, hunched over a cane and giving her the cruellest scowl she’d ever had directed at her – the lady’s narrowed eyes stared at her in pure hatred and disgust, like she’d stepped in a pile of poop that she couldn’t wait to shake off. Lis smiled nervously at the crone, choosing to look past how the woman was gripping onto her cane with white knuckles, mouth still twisted into a hateful sneer. “Uh…hi. I uh…I used to live here. There was also a small community nearby – it also seems to be pretty deserted. I was um…wondering what happened here.”

The woman scowled harder, contorting her lips in disgust before she spoke. “You are certainly _brave_ coming back here _.”_

Annalise stepped back at the sheer amount of malice in the lady’s tone, before it registered in her mind. She frowned, trying to remember why it seemed so familiar. “Wait, Elder Rosaline?”

Rosaline stood as straight as her hunched back would allow – her head of white hair pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck was distinct...it was the way she used to have it tied nearly 13 years ago. 

Lis sighed and reached up to tighten her own ponytail self-consciously in the sweltering heat of the bush, despite the fact that it was late into the night, trying to occupy her hands as Rosaline kept glaring at her. “I uh- I know I’m not welcome here, I promise, I’ll leave. Just- I just wanna know what happened.”

Rosaline stared at her for a moment longer before she sniffed, then nodded to herself. She twisted around and started walking, quite a bit more agilely than her posture would suggest. Lis remained still for a moment longer before she realised that the elder had given her a cue to follow her – she scrambled to jog up the cracked pavement, slowing once she was at a safe distance. Rosaline led her to a house; one that wasn’t as dilapidated as all the rest in the small neighbourhood – Lis was surprised at herself for not noticing it being in obviously better condition than the rest before. She must have been pretty out of it. 

Rosaline opened the door then stood to the side, eyeing her as Lis stepped in slowly with caution, before closing the door behind her noiselessly. Annalise was sure her nerves showed by the speed at which her eyes darted all over the hallway, lingering on old vases of flowers and slightly wonky picture frames. She followed the Elder as she lead her down the small hallway into a dim kitchen lit only by the dull glow of a small lamp in the corner of the room. The house smelled of musty dried herbs – a vase on the small dining table held a jar of dry pink proteas and wildflowers wilting in the heat. 

The Elder witch bustled into the kitchen, filling an old kettle up with water from a loud screaming tap, and setting it on the stove. Annalise stood uncertainly until Rosaline gestured to the small table with a sharp jerk on her head; Lis complied awkwardly, clasping her fidgety hands together in her lap. While the kettle began to boil and squeal, Rosaline disappeared into a nearby room before she emerged once more carrying a small book – yellowing and crinkly, showing off it’s age. She set it down on the table and went around the kitchen counter again, pouring out the boiling water into two teacups from the steaming kettle, before gracefully walking back over and sitting at the table, placing a teacup in front of her.

All these movements were measured...pristine. Annalise felt her nerves increase. 

In order to focus her anxious mind, her gaze trained on the small, ancient book in front of her that looked as though it would crumble to dust any second – she hadn’t realised that an aged and faded picture of a forest and a starry night delicately decorated the old leather cover of the book. 

Rosaline’s hand closing over the book jerked Lis out of the temporary distraction, she looked at the elder cluelessly. 

The elder scowled at her. “I expected you to come, dark child. But not this soon.”

Lis felt her lips thin defensively as she shook her head. “Look, I don’t know what I am, but I’m not dark, I swear. I’ve studied it – it’s nothing like dark magic. It _feels_ natural. _Good._ ”

The elder looked at her for a long unnerving second, before nodding to herself. “I see. It’s certainly not natural, but I may agree with your assessment.”

Annalise felt herself relax infinitesimally – that...was easier than she expected. Not strangely worrying...right? “So, what happened? To everyone? To the coven?”

Lis fiddled with the handle of her teacup as Rosaline’s gaze drilled into her. “The coven was weak, child. You were supposed to be our saviour, to be powerful enough to re-strengthen our bond with nature. _You_ were supposed to help us survive.” Annalise looked away, feeling a large amount of guilt fill her. Rosaline continued talking with little to no emotion showing in her cold voice. “But then, we saw what you could do – we realised that you weren’t like _us_ , that you’ll _never_ be like us. We perished soon after-”

“Perished?!” Lis echoed shakily, feeling faint.

The elder scowled at her. “Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking.” Annalise closed her mouth and nodded wordlessly. Rosaline continued. “The coven’s _magic_ perished, faded away, no one died. Everyone split up in search of other covens, or to enjoy their now mundane lives.”

“Oh.” She sipped at her tea, unsure of what to feel. The ginger of the tea stayed strong on her tongue. “I’m sorry.”

Rosaline stayed quiet for a moment, as if scrutinising her. “You really are.”

“What?”

“You really are sorry.” Rosaline sipped at her own tea, leaning back in her chair. “Why?”

Annalise shrugged, unable to meet the elder’s eyes. “I dunno. My parents – they lasted for four years after they gave into dark magic. They weren’t themselves after they lost it, y’know? I guess I’m sorry I made everyone else go through that too.”

Rosaline’s eyes had taken a sharp edge. “Your parents turned to dark magic?”

Lis cleared her throat, nodding. “Um…yeah. They started sacrificing people; vampires. They tried to sacrifice me too, but someone saved me. My parents died as a result.”

Rosaline nodded, but her eyes held more anger if it were possible. “They tried to sacrifice their own child?” She smirked lightly to herself. “It sounds as though the magic snapped back at them. They paid their price as they deserved.”

“They _didn’t deserve_ to _die.”_ Annalise clenched her teacup hard in her anger. “They were _good_ people-”

“Who tried to kill you, and instead presumably left you to fend for yourself on an _entirely different continent_ -”

“For a _good reason.”_ Annalise didn’t realise how loud she was until silence permeated the air. She took a deep breath. “They tried to kill me to get their magic back, because they realised I didn’t deserve to live while they _suffered._ I deserved _everything_ they did to me. _”_

Rosaline’s lips had flattened into a displeased line, and her brow was furrowed. “You were a mere child. The blame should not lie on your shoulders.”

“But it _does.”_ Lis's voice cracked in confusion. Why was Rosaline defending her? “It always _did._ Don’t you remember? You were the head Elder and you kicked my parents, me, out of the coven because you blamed my powers. The blame for what happened to them lies with me, _and only me. Why can’t you understand?”_

Rosaline stared for a long moment as Annalise heaved trying to catch her breath after her desperate exclamation, and then kept staring as Lis discovered that she’d started crying somewhere along the discussion and quickly wiped at her face. When Rosaline spoke next, her voice wasn’t as cold, and her black eyes didn’t seem as hard. “Child, turning you and your family away in your time of need has haunted me since – it has, to this day, remained to be one of my greatest mistakes, overshadowed by only one other. I apologise for making you bear this burden.”

Despite the fact that it felt no longer like her and Rosaline was talking about the same thing, Lis sniffled and managed to shoot a shaky smile at the elder. “Thanks, I guess. That means something to me.” She sipped at her tea and cleared her throat. “But, um…I actually came to ask you about that day.” Annalise traced shapes into the tablecloth distractedly, “I don’t remember much, but I do remember you saying something. Something about someone called Silas.”

From her periphery, she noticed Rosaline stiffen. Annalise looked towards her inquiringly. “What did you mean when you said, and I'm just paraphrasing here; ‘It is written this girl would grow to become Silas’s right hand – this coven refuses to be associated with the likes of such dark magic’?”

The next time Rosaline lifted her cup to her lips, a tremor shook her limb. It took a few minutes for the elder to gather back her countenance once more. “When I look at you, I feel anger, hatred and _disgust.”_

Annalise swallowed back a lump in her throat and nodded, before Rosaline’s next words had her pausing. “I feel all of that, towards _myself_. Child, this guilt has taken up a large amount of my life, and I think it’s time to set myself free of this burden.” Rosaline drained her tea in one large gulp. “I mentioned before, that turning your family away was the second biggest mistake I’d ever made.” Her knuckles tightened around the fragile looking teacup. “ _You_ are the biggest.”

Lis turned that sentence over and over in her head...no, it wasn’t just her – it didn’t make sense. “What do you mean _I_ was the biggest mistake you’d ever made?”

Rosaline sighed, and it seemed as though her steel spine caved, and she lost her strength. But her voice was still unrelentingly strong. “The coven has been dying out for a long time now, child. We have known about it for decades before you were born.” Rosaline’s wrinkled and weathered hands tapped out an unclear rhythm vaguely on the old journal. “As leader, you are sometimes forced to resort to...unsavoury measures to save everyone. This was one such instance.”

Rosaline pushed the old journal over to Annalise, staring at her with her head tilted. Her cold voice held little to no inflection as if she were disconnected from what she was talking about. “Your mother was of this coven; your father had journeyed from America. When he married into this coven, he handed over some of his family’s old possessions. This is one of them.”

Lis looked at the beautiful drawing on the front of the journal in new light, and touched it gently. She wasn’t surprised to feel magic permeate from the book into her fingertips as Rosaline continued. “This book was clearly powerful – but it is written in ancient Greek. Another elder and I, we translated a single page – to the best of our ability. What we found, was _immeasurably_ valuable.”

“What did you find?” Lis whispered lowly, watching the dull lamp to their side flicker the tiniest amount, casting them in darkness for a split second.

“A spell; to grant a child of the family line access to an insurmountable amount of magic. Old magic. The magic of a deity.”

A choked gasp escaped her. “ _What?”_

Rosaline chuckled humourlessly. “It was as if the gods were smiling down on us – your parents announced their pregnancy a few months later, and we knew the time was right, we would never get another opportunity like this. Imagine that – a powerful child would contribute _so_ much to our coven, to our collective magic, and become our _salvation._ It’s a pity your mother refused to undergo the ritual.”

What?

A pressure was building up behind Annalise’s eyes and she clenched her fingers together tightly. Dully, she noticed the wind outside was unnaturally battering at the windows of the old house, disturbing the once tranquil quiet of the night. She didn't want to disturb the quiet any further, so she found herself whispering. “What did you do?” 

Rosaline’s mouth set grimly. “I did what I thought was best for my coven, my people. We drugged her, performed the ritual, and put her back in bed, as if nothing had ever happened. Your parents were none the wiser.”

The wilted flowers in the vase next to her straightened, blossomed and grew, and shadows grew larger across the floor. Rosaline watched on, looking only faintly interested as Lis felt herself growl. “You performed a ritual on a pregnant woman without her _consent?_ ”

The elder smirked dully and shrugged one shoulder. “We’ve done worse.”

The teacup in Annalise’s hand cracked; the ceramic splinters dug into her palm as she clenched them tighter, trying to keep her surge of magic down.

Fuck, she was losing control. Annalise breathed through her emotion as Kol had suggested one afternoon – letting it flow through her, forcing the tsunami of emotions to dull and weaken into a pliable stream; concentrating on imaging herself in her room with him coaching her softly next to her. She swore she heard wind chimes as she remembered. 

When she opened her eyes once more, Elder Rosaline’s lips lifted at the corners, just for a second before falling flat into a line. “Seems you have control. Maybe turning you away _was_ my biggest mistake after all. You would’ve been a wonderful addition to the coven.” Annalise glared at the old witch, the with just lifted an eyebrow at her before gesturing to the book gripped in Lis’s hands.

“We did believe we did the right thing for a while after you were born. You held a great deal of promise – but when you healed that poor girl with the broken spine – we knew we were too far out of our depth, that we’d meddled with forces we knew too little about.” 

Rosaline gestured to the journal. “We managed to get another few paragraphs of the book translated – it talked about the child’s connection to Silas. The more we read, the more our horror grew, and in our panic, we believed that we’d trapped a dark demon in a child. My fear and guilt at what we’d done to your family stuck with me that day as we exiled them." Annalise felt her nails dig into her palms as Rosaline continued detachedly once more. "You’re right. They were good people – we were the bad. It took a long time after the coven fell apart and I was left magic-less to realise that. So...I do apologise, child, for the suffering my decisions have caused.”

No. No, it doesn't make sense. This _had_ to be some lie, some _bullshit_ trick. Annalise furrowed her brow in anger. “Well, why would you tell me _now?_ How do I know that-that you’re not lying? _”_

Rosaline let out a weary sigh before straightening back into her strict posture. “What need would I have to fabricate such a complex lie? Anymore answers you seek about your condition are in that journal. As for right now,” She gingerly swivelled her cup in her saucer. “I’m dying, child. I have been dying for a long time. I had resorted to dying with the guilt that has stayed with me for the last thirteen years, but seeing you today, the hatred and disgust I hold towards myself increased tenfold. You now know my truth, and I have now found my peace.”

As Annalise stared at the Elder with tears of disbelief brimming her eyes, Rosaline hummed under her breath in a pleased manner and stared back at Annalise with her cold eyes once more. “I believe this visit has come to an end. Please, let yourself out.”

Annalise sniffed once, then flipped her the bird before blinking out of existence in a flash of light.

Rosaline raised an eyebrow and smirked. Maybe the girl would survive after all.

-

The stars shone at her comfortingly as she trudged along the familiar footpath of her university; the lawns were pristine and manicured, looking beautiful and deserted in the moonlight. She approached the sliding door and teleported inside the library familiarly like it was second nature. It kind of was, at this point. She’d memorised where all the security cameras were, scoped out the darkest corners of each room; this had once been her second home.

There were a few people in the library, hunched over tables under lamp lights, clearly working hard for exams. Low murmurs filled the silence, along with the relatively loud sounds of flipping pages. 

Annalise walked past the familiar environment almost catatonically; approaching a computer in the corner then logging on to the magic forum online. There was a feature on it she had once used quite often in her degree – a translator. So many old texts had been written in Latin, old Czech, and sometimes Ancient Greek, so it had been a inexplicably handy tool. Lis didn't appreciate it as much as she normally would as she gingerly spread open the journal and started typing the words written on its fragile pages – she had a basic understanding of the language, so she was able to type what the symbols represented. All the algorithm had to do was decipher the sounds that the words made, then translate that into English.

She typed continuously for the next hour – it was a small book, but the words had aged, and some weren’t very legible. Lis then had to wait until the program deciphered everything. Her eyelids fluttered in exhaustion. 

Annalise hadn’t realised that she’d fallen asleep until the computer beeped to signal that the translations were complete. She tiredly clicked print and squinted at the first rays of sunlight _just_ peeking over the horizon. It would still be night-time in America.

She walked wearily over to the printer, pushing her glasses up on the top of her head and rubbing the grit away from the corners of her eyes, before collecting the small pile of papers and casually logged out of everything systematically by habit, before moving her glasses back down and scanning the first few pages of the 5 double page document, mumbling to herself. “Huh, ‘Thrylos tis Gaia’…the 'Legend of Gaia'.” She let out a small bark of laughter and rolled her eyes. “Ominous.”

Her laughter however, disappeared from her face the next instant, she straightened as her eyes wildly swept from side-to-side, taking in the loosely translated book.

“No _fucking_ way…” The next instant, she had grabbed the original journal and disappeared from existence, leaving nothing behind but a wildly swivelling office chair.

**-**

Annalise appeared in the kitchen of the Mansion, not expecting to find Rebekah and Kol paired off in a strange stalemate – Rebekah pressing a silver dagger to Kol’s chest, and Kol hovering the indestructible white oak stake threateningly over his sister.

Her sudden arrival had made both of them pause and look towards her, allowing her time to push the two siblings away from each other with an annoyed scowl. “What the _hell_ are you two doing?”

Both Kol and Bekah glowered at each other – “Ask her, she was just about to dagger me for ensuring that Silas won’t be raised.”

Rebekah used the ashed silver dagger in her hand to gesture threateningly at Kol. “Me? I wasn’t the one who nearly ruined our one chance at getting the cure – and _you’re_ one to talk. Kol, you were about to _stake me._ ”

Nik blurred into the room opposite Lis, clearly having heard the commotion and looking as annoyed as she was feeling. “Enough of this foolishness, everyone, weapons _down.”_

Lis didn’t miss the blank look Nik passed her as she ran a hand through her hair in frustration, watching the two siblings slowly stand down from pointing dangerous weapons at each other. She offhandedly realised it was the first time that they’d been in a room together since the whole incident with the medallion – only this time they were united in their annoyance towards his siblings.

Annalise huffed tiredly. “What? I leave for a couple _hours_ , and you’re at each other’s throats? What _happened?”_

Nik reached, pulling the dagger out of Rebekah’s hand forcefully before trying to do the same with Kol – only Kol secured the stake inside his jacket before Nik could grab it. Nik glared at him, before turning to Annalise, looking very much like he was tattling on his little brother. “What you missed, Lissie, was Kol compelling Damon to kill my hunter, after killing all the vampires I turned for the sole reason of completing the map.”

Lis looked between the two of them in disbelief, her voice cracked. “ _What? Killed? How many- I-”_

Rebekah seemed to take pity on her as she stuttered. “Nik killed and turned an entire bar of humans – Kol killed them after their transition. Family always disappoints, Lissie, best learn that now, and join my team.”

Annalise exhaled shakily and shut her eyes in frustration. “Team? That’s what this is to you? A giant game, where the prize is the big cure?! That’s what you’re all killing people for? _Destroying_ yourselves over?! _"_

Nik scoffed at her, smirking. “Well, I happen to have my reasons-”

“I know, okay? You have your _bullshit_ reasons, and you won’t tell them to me, that sunk in when you _tortured_ me for a week. _"_ Annalise hissed straight back in retaliation. She felt Kol shift closer to her, brushing his arm against hers in silent support. Nik looked away as if in shame, but Lis didn’t feel guilty, not this time. Her voice turned sad. 

“Nik, you need to tell us what’s going on, _work_ with us. Turning to strangers, turning more _fucking_ hybrids and making deals with _shady-ass_ people won’t help you. Accepting us, and not pushing us away, _will.”_

“And _you,”_ She turned raising a finger at Rebekah. “I _know_ that you want the cure for yourself, I really do, Bekah. I wish you all the happiness in the world; but this _isn’t_ the way to go about it _._ I’ll help, just please, don’t turn on each other. _”_

Her head pounded, as she finally turned to Kol. “Strangely enough, the only thing I have to say to you, is pretty standard at this point. Stop going on _fucking_ murder sprees. Please.”

Kol shook his head, “No, you don’t understand. I told you before, I killed them because I needed to stop Silas-”

“From rising - yeah, I know. I heard you the first time. Despite how you went about it, Silas not rising is the one thing I agree with right now.”

Nik immediately protested, gesturing wildly. “Lissie, you can’t tell me you trust a bad _bedtime story_ and a few theories from _Kol_.”

“I do. I have proof.”

The room was engulfed in a sudden silence, and Lis swayed on her feet lightly from utter exhaustion. It seemed all three siblings noticed the bundle of papers and the book clutched in her hand tightly, and how pale she looked. Kol looked at her worriedly, steadying her by her arm gently. “Darling? What exactly did you find in Australia?”

She rubbed her eyes as they filled with tears. “I found answers, Kol; and everything is _fucking connected.”_

Nik moved closer to her; he softly spoke as if she were about to break. “Tell us what you know, Lissie.”

Sighing she gestured to the chairs at the table. “You might wanna sit down for this.”

As soon as the Mikaelson family was seated, Lis started explaining in a dull tone.

“It was when that Shane guy said Silas, the name, it- it felt so familiar. Then Kol confirmed it – he said 'when Silas rises, so will the dead'. I just couldn’t place where I’d heard it before...until it just clicked. I'd heard it as a child in the coven that kicked my family out. I avoided that place like a plague when I was doing my degree – they were shit people, and I wanted nothing more to do with them.” 

Kol’s jaw ticked, but he restrained himself from speaking.

“When I visited this time, I learnt that only one elder – this old woman called Rosaline – was still left at the community. Everyone else was gone. Turns out that my coven’s magic died out, so they’d just spread out everywhere. But they’d always known they were gonna die out; so as their last attempt to grow powerful, twenty years ago, they decided they were gonna do something about it – they created me.” 

Rebekah frowned, and voiced the question all three siblings seemed to want to ask. “ _Created_ you? What do you mean?”

Lis chuckled dully and rubbed at her forehead. “I mean exactly that, Bekah. As it turned out, they performed a ritual on my unknowing pregnant mother – a ritual that was said to bless an unborn child of my family line with the powers of a deity.”

All three Originals straightened – Lis could see visibly how Nik’s brain was kicked into override, thinking of all the consequences of her power. She sighed.

“At first, the elders thought they had saved the coven, but when they saw me use my powers? They thought they’d made the worst mistake of their lives. In order to cover up the fact that they messed with my mother’s pregnancy and gave them what everyone thought was an unintentionally dark magic child, my family was kicked out.”

Rebekah moved closer and held Annalise’s hand in silent support. She smiled briefly at her friend. “That’s all Rosaline explained – she said she wanted to die with a clear conscience; but she did give me the old grimoire they got the spell from – the one that made me the way I am. I had to spend a couple hours translating it – it was only a few pages, but it was in Ancient Greek – ‘Thrylos tis Gaia’.”

Nik leaned closer. “That’s what Finn called you, when you died. He called you Gaia.” As Lis nodded slightly in his direction, she saw Kol frown to himself. She gave it little thought, but continued.

“It had a story of warning, one that my coven Elders ignored in favour of getting more powerful via me. It talked about two sisters. The elder sister; Gaia, she was a witch at one with nature. She was receptive towards it in a way no one before her was; she was considered incredibly outgoing, gifted, but she hated using her magic – the book said that she felt almost guilty; drawing on the energy of nature that wasn’t her own.”

“Gaia’s younger sister was similar, but also different. She had her head in the clouds – and she loved to daydream. It was said that she was in fact a powerful seer – but no one believed she was, because she, unlike her sister, kept to herself, and didn’t use her powers much at all. She was a recluse.”

“The story then went on to mention Gaia’s friends, Silas and Qetsiyah. They had all been incredibly powerful sorcerers – roughly 2000 years ago; the coven they belonged to - it used magic without limits. Gaia had been starting to pull away from practicing this magic. Her best friend, Silas, didn’t mind – he’d long since accepted her as an oddity. From what I could translate from a variation of ancient Greek, Qetsiyah was deep in love with Silas; the two were engaged to be married. But neither Gaia nor Qetsiyah knew that Silas was secretly in love with Qetsiyah’s handmaid, Amara.”

Kol smirked, leaning backwards in his chair. “Scandalous.”

Annalise couldn’t help but smirk fondly as she rolled her eyes at him. “Sure, Kol. Anyway, apparently Silas lied, and manipulated Qetsiyah. He said he wanted to be with Qetsiyah forever and that he wanted her help to make them a potion of Immortality that they would drink on their wedding day. When the day came, however, Gaia and Qetsiyah found that Silas and Amara had taken the potion together and had become the world’s first Immortal Beings. As nature always need something to balance it out – the _mortal_ shadow selves of Amara and Silas were created to balance out _their_ immortality; doppelgangers.”

Nik’s eyebrows were raised high – “The first doppelgangers? So Amara was the Original Katerina Petrova.”

Annalise nodded slowly. “I think so. But that’s not all. Qetsiyah was livid, so _naturally_ she created the _cure_ for immortality, forced Amara to take it, and killed her, sending her to the mortal Afterlife. I think. The translations were a little cryptic around that part.” Lis shrugged, moving on. “Gaia, despite feeling deceived at Silas’s secret, still came to his aid against Qetsiyah – and Qetsiyah in turn felt further betrayed by the one person that she thought was on her side in all this; so in a fit of anger, she threw Gaia back...buried her alive. Her last words to her bound her fate – ‘Die protecting your precious Immortals.’”

“Silas was understandably devastated; he’d lost both his true love and his best friend to Qetsiyah. So, he hunted her, not knowing she was luring him into a trap. Qetsiyah eventually entombed him with the cure, and gave him a choice – take the cure and be with her, or suffer for eternity.”

“Talk about a woman scorned.” Nik crossed his arms smugly.

As Rebekah rolled her eyes at Nik; Lis continued as if there hadn't been an interruption.

“Out of spite for Qetsiyah for killing his loved ones, he refused – so Qetsiyah created The Other Side – a purgatory for supernaturals, separate to the Afterlife for mortals. This way, even if Silas eventually takes the cure and dies, he’d be sent to the Other Side to be with Qetsiyah, _not_ to the Afterlife where Amara waits for him because she died a mortal death. Apparently Silas still lays desiccated to this day in that tomb clutching that cure – when the time is right he would rise, and he’d enlist Gaia’s help to destroy the Veil separating the worlds, merging them together, so when he finally does die, he’d be reunited with Amara in the Afterlife once more.”

Annalise sighed and sagged back tiredly in her chair. “The script ended saying that the story had been recounted by Gaia’s little recluse sister; named Caelesti. She had watched Gaia defend Silas with her life; and as her sister lay dying, suffocating in the dirt – she had wanted her sacrifice to mean something. So Caelesti performed a ritual – she didn’t want her beloved sister to be in the Other Side purgatory forever, so she fulfilled Gaia’s dying wish; to give back, and to be returned to the same earth she took from – bound to it. Her _soul_ bound to nature, just as nature bound to her.”

“What does that mean?” Kol frowned.

Lis handed him the journal and the papers tiredly, then spoke, watching him shuffle through the papers gingerly. “Well, if I’m reading everything right, it means that just as it’s Qetsiyah who bound the magic to something that holds the Other Side open, it’s Gaia’s sacrifice that expanded nature in a weird way – enabled the supernatural to occupy it – hell, enabled Silas to occupy it, then...I guess eventually you guys too. It's Gaia's sacrifice that Esther tapped in to make you Immortals. Caelesti ended the story by saying that they will all rise again; all _but_ Gaia. Instead, a descendant, chosen to bear Gaia’s burden instead would be granted her power; her sacrifice.”

“Lissie, how does this involve you?” Rebekah sounded utterly terrified for her.

Annalise reached for the last piece of paper and thrust it exhaustedly in Rebekah’s direction. “My last name, Caelis, is a derivative of Caelesti. I’m a true descendent – and somehow I met Nik, who just _happened_ to bring me to Mystic Falls where I’m scripted by fate to be, alongside the descendent of Qetsiyah; Bonnie Bennett, and the doppelganger of Amara – Elena who just _can’t seem to catch a break_ , and whoever the fuck Silas's doppelganger is. _Fuck,_ guys. This is what I meant. Everything’s _fucking_ connected.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...there you have it! How was that? :)  
> I hope this chapter built more on Lis's character as a whole...and the whole premise of this story really.


	28. Evanescence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to the slightly late Sunday update!!   
> You’ll probably all immediately notice the quality and execution of my writing has improved leagues for your very own benefit courtesy of my amazing new Beta Junieyes. We’ll also be revamping the older chapters simultaneously, but nothing regarding the plot will change. Because of this though, updates will go back to being once a week on Sundays, just until the older chapters are done. 
> 
> Anyways…normal warnings apply: Canon-Typical Violence, Graphic description of Injury and Strong Language.  
> Beta’d by – Junieyes.  
> Enjoy!

The chiming of the decorative grandfather clock standing in the hallway just outside the kitchen echoed in the silence left behind after Annalise’s admission. 

Unsure, she peered between three of the oldest beings in the world, the incredulity that marked their faces, and felt guilt rise to her throat. She swallowed heavily. This wasn’t their mess. Annalise couldn't do anything other than sigh. “I’m sorry. This is my problem and I’m just dragging you guys along with me. I understand if you want me to leave.”

Nik was stoic, face firm and unyielding like stone, before he exhaled. His lips tugged into his usual charming smirk, one that was warm and fond and brought her no small amount of relief. His head dipped consideringly, as if reassuring her. “Not at all, Lissie. If anything, I’d say that I did the dragging, didn’t I?” 

Her lips lifted gently in reflex at the fond and laughable reminder of the day they first met; and for the first time since that torture bullshit he pulled on her, it was easier to look him in the eyes. Despite the casual air he wore, Annalise knew that his mind was working a mile a minute trying to figure out how this was going to affect him and his family. It was a survival instinct built on a literal millennia of being hunted. She couldn’t fault him for it. 

Rebekah was outwardly skeptical. "So Silas is an immortal buried with the cure, and he plans to merge this world and the Other Side together, so he can die in peace and be reunited with his long-lost love?" She looked between her brothers and Lis with doubt and a small touch of disbelief. It wasn't hard to see where she was coming from, but that didn’t stop Annalise from feeling disheartened, especially when she had received acceptance from  _ Nik  _ of all people. "Am I missing anything?”

Kol lifted his hand up in the air as if he were at school, and smiled sarcastically wide with derision. “Just the parts where Silas enlists Lis’s help to do so, and that she’s to be involved in a sacrifice somewhere along the way. Now more than ever, sister, you must see that you  _ can’t  _ let him rise.” 

Lis laid a hand on his shoulder gently before turning to Rebekah. “Bekah, does this change anything for you? Does it make you want the cure any less?”

Her friend looked away with a frown, but her silence was answer enough. Kol’s shoulder stiffened under her hand in anger. “So that’s it? You’d place your selfish, baseless desires before your friend, and the entire  _ world _ , sister.”

Annalise subconsciously squeezed his fist on the table; Kol's hand was bigger than hers, even clenched as it was, and his white knuckles peeked between her spread fingers. Whether the action was as calming as she'd hoped was debatable. She didn’t let herself linger too long, her head heavy with thoughts of the grim days ahead. 

To Rebekah, she shrugged in understanding. “It’s okay, Bekah. If your choice remains unchanged in the light of all this new information, that means Elena and her friends won’t stop looking, and Shane won’t either. All we can do is damage control at this point. We can make sure there’s a safe way to grab the cure without waking Silas.”

The compromise was clearly favourable to Rebekah, who's smile was pleased and more than what Annalise could have hoped for. Now it was just Nik that was left. Lis turned to him. “I know by now you’ve probably got a thousand things planned, but this is bigger than us. Please – promise me that we’ll all work together to get to the cure carefully in light of all this new information?”

Nik looked at his siblings before relaxing backwards in his chair with an easy grin, arm thrown over the back of the vacant kitchen chair beside him. “That’s fine by me, it’s them you need to consider.”

Lis glared at him lightly before looking at both Rebekah and Kol. “Well? Can you guys play nice and not try to kill each other for the time being because we’re all on the same page now?”

Rebekah and Kol exchanged a sour glance  before Kol grinned sardonically. It was that familiar, menacing type of grin that he was most known for. “I’m still against Silas rising, but now you know that he  _ is  _ real, I’m sure we can eventually reach the conclusion that the cure isn’t worth it.”

Lis put her head in her hands tiredly. “Well, at least that  _ isn’t _ a downright no. Good enough for me. Bekah?”

The girl pursed her lips, before acquiescing. “I’m still going after the cure, but I’ll be careful, and keep everyone involved. Promise me you won’t take this away from me.”

Annalise passed a small smile towards her. “We won’t Beks. Promise. Just, keep us in the loop, yeah?”

“Done. Now we’re all agreed. I’m going to go back home for the night.”  With one last fleeting smile, Rebekah stood up. Lis waved her goodbye, but Rebekah merely passed a short glance to both brothers before vamp-speeding out of the house .

Well...that was a bit abrupt. 

As Annalise looked questioningly in the direction Rebekah had gone, Nik prudently updated her. “Rebekah has gotten awfully cosy with Stefan; I believe  _ they  _ were the team she was talking about earlier. No doubt she’s gone to tell my former ripper everything that’s just transpired.” Lis stiffened at Nik’s casual statement. 

Nik's eyes widened when he realised his mistake, made even clearer by a dark glare from Kol. Nik sat up straighter, bringing his arms down to rest on the table as he leant forward, his gaze sincere . “Lissie.” His hands clasped together as he inhaled sharply. “ I should take this opportunity to say I took advantage of your trauma and used him to immobilise you. I-” 

He was trying, wasn’t he. That meant more to her than just words. Annalise softened at Nik’s almost awkwardly formal posture, interrupting him. “No, you just needed to exercise control over all your little variables – I understand. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that you  _ hurt  _ me, Nik.” Okay, no.  Her tone, which had started understanding and pleasant enough, had become increasingly exasperated the more she spoke about it. Nik's subtle earnest expression began to shutter closed . She had meant to forgive Nik, not go off at him, so she awkwardly reached out to pat his clasped hands lightly before retreating. “ I accept your apology, I do. Thank you. But you’re gonna have to continue to work towards becoming my best friend again.”

Nik nodded, first as if just for the sake of nodding, and then again like he meant it. His relieved smile was a small thing, but when he stood up and took his leave, his eyes were brighter than they'd once been .  Kol and Lis were left sitting at the table in silence. Annalise strangely couldn’t think of anything to say to fill the silence despite seeing the inner turmoil that clung to Kol’s still stiff shoulders. 

It wasn’t long until they both stood as if by unspoken agreement, but even then, the silence lingered as the pair made their way up to Annalise’s room.  There was a lot on his mind, she could tell. She liked to think that she knew him enough by now to understand his silences, and easily assumed he would tell her when would under the privacy spells in her room. She was proven right, for once they entered, Kol spoke up quietly from behind her. “Do you believe it? That it was fate that brought you here, to Mystic Falls? To die?”

Annalise thought about it for a long moment as she made herself comfortable at the end of her bed. Kol sat quietly next to her. The bed dipped,  making her lean slightly towards him. Kol didn't look at her, instead he stared resolutely forward, awaiting her answer . She looked down instead, noticing how her feet just barely skimmed the floor below her, and how Kol’s were planted firmly on the ground, sunk comfortably into the plush carpet.

She huffed, picking at a thread on her sweater. “People hate it, don’t they, when sometimes it doesn’t matter what you choose to do, because all roads lead to the same destination anyway?” Annailse felt a bone-deep weariness hit her from her emotional rollercoaster of the day, and found herself flat on her back on the bed, with her legs still hanging off the side, and her hair splaying around her head. Annalise frowned as she stared at her ceiling.

“People think fate is this unbending path that you’re set to be on for eternity. They think of it as a- a  _ prison _ _;_ being bound to a destiny you have no say in. But,” she sighed as Kol lay down silently next to her, making the bed dip once more, drawing their shoulders together like magnets. “I don’t think I mind too much. I’d like to think I’ve always made my own decisions – done what I thought was best. Even if those choices were pre-determined, it’s still  _ me _ who made them. And I’d make the same choices again if I had to. If my fate is a construction of the results of my decisions, then it's just the future isn’t it? No point finding something else to blame. It’s all on me, and I’ll deal with what follows.” 

Kol shifted toward her, and when she turned her head to look at him, as  he was already staring at her with furrowed brows and contradictory quirk to his lips, like he wasn't quite sure whether he was amused, or rather bemused by her rambling spie l . His eyes were still annoyingly, impossibly, dark. It was the kind of dark that warned fishermen of deadly deep seas ahead. The kind that people drowned in. 

“Shane was right.”

She chuckled slightly, feeling strangely out of breath and displaced. “Of course that lunatic was right, he was under the effects of the truth spell – he  _ had _ to reveal Silas existed.”

Kol stared at her for a moment longer, the expression on his face was one she couldn't decipher. She felt, oddly, as if maybe she'd misunderstood him. Suddenly curious, she frowned back. Kol shook his head and his faint smile dimmed. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that Finn found out what you were? That you were this...‘ _ Gaia _ ’?”

Annalise let out a slow breathe as she considered his question, before shrugging . “I honestly don’t know. I found out when he died, and you had enough on your mind that night. Then, after that, everything just got so _ busy _ , and I couldn’t ever bring myself to just text it to you because it felt like the sort of thing that should be talked about in person, and _ now _ -” She took a shuddering inhale. “Now I find out that I’m supposed to help bring about the _ end of the world as we know it _ , and I think it’s safe to say I’m low-key panicking and hoping the universe works its shit out.” 

“I won’t let you die.” Lis looked upwards at Kol’s sudden statement. He passed her a sharp smile; a thin, tense, tight-lipped thing that somehow still managed to reassure her in response. “What sort of friend would I be if I let you die? Who else would make my life both bearable and miserable at the same time?”

Lis beamed, recognising that this was him trying to make her feel  _ better _ ; then promptly shoved him away lightly. “Oh, is that right? All I’ve done is entertained your mood swings.” 

Kol smirked wider. “My point still stands, Lissa.”

The  _ audacity.  _

“ _ Ugh _ , nope. You’re rude. Consider your room privileges redacted.” She sat up and crossed her arms, teleporting Kol away from her to her doorway in a flash.

Kol just put his hands in his pockets and rolled his eyes. “Fine, see if I care.” He turned halfway, before pausing, then turning back in what seemed like an afterthought,  to give her an easy grin. This one lacked the edge it'd previously had. “Wanna visit the Bennett witch with me tomorrow, darling?”

Annalise chuckled. “Sure. As long as you promise to at least put your homicidal tendencies on the back burner for now. I promised Bekah we wouldn’t do anything.”

He shrugged easily, turning away, echoing a cheeky “ _ I  _ didn’t!” over his shoulder.  Annalise rolled her eyes, ignoring the summersaults that her stomach was going, and got ready for bed.

\- 

The school hallways were decked out in balloons and streamers for another Decade Dance, and Lis was judging silently. What kinda school had this many social nights? It was a miracle students got any work done.

While Lis walked casually and at her own pace, Kol walked like he was a man on a mission. It was such a stark difference from his calm and collected demeanor the night before; evidenced further when he looked back at her, eyes narrowing into a near glare when she kicked a couple of red balloons nonchalantly down the hallway. “Keep up, darling.”

She pouted a little and jogged up to him, matching his pace. “I thought you were supposed to be the fun, maniacal Original. What’s got you behaving all business-like?” The deadpan expression he levelled her with spoke volumes, making her chuckle. “Fine, sue me for trying to be optimistic about everything.” 

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his dark green bomber jacket and smirked at her callously. “Optimistic about all my dead enemies walking amongst the living? I can’t  _ wait!  _ I feel positively _ exuberant.” _

Lis bared her teeth in a mocking grin. “Yeah, your  _ exuberance  _ reminds me of a joke. Wanna hear it?”  Kol didn't answer, just continued walking down the corridor, so she yelled after him, “Hey! What’s tall, prickly, green, and stabs you when you get too close?” Her grin widened when his steps faltered in confusion, before continuing once more, this time, faster than before. “I bet you’d give a cactus a run for its money.” She huffed, jogging slightly to catch up to him. “Come on, Kol. I’ve told you all morning. Lighten up.” 

He finally stopped, giving her a short opportunity to catch up to him. “Lissa, you need to get off whatever sugar high you’re on. You can’t-” 

His voice trailed off. 

Annalise was too busy rolling her eyes at his smug tone to realise he’d stopped because something further down the hallway had caught his attention. “There’s the witch.” He lent her a quick glance; “Keep up.”

Damn. Just when she had started getting through to him too. Her shoulders dropped, disheartened, as he blurred away immediately, then proceeded to teleport to where his energy signature had paused.  He'd been agitated all morning, and Annalise had spent the entirety of it trying to lift his spirits up. She wasn't sure if it was working, but she'd tried anyways. Hence the bad jokes. 

He was scared, now that she'd confirmed his fears , and Lis knew that scared people tended to do stupid things. She’d been trying to distract him from it. But the universe barely gave her a break, so why start now? 

Kol stood threateningly in front of a defensive Bonnie, cornering her against a large wall of lockers. Lis’s arrival had her relaxing noticeably. The teen levelled them with a wary look, lifting her chin defiantly. “What are you doing here?”

Lis stepped forwards, pulling Bonnie’s attention away from Kol and his unsettling...well, everything r. This whole family was dramatic. “We just wanted to talk...about Silas.”

Bonnie nodded, stiffening slightly. “Yeah, um…Stefan updated us. You really believe he’s real?”

“It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Lis shrugged.

“We aren’t gonna stop looking for the cure just based on a  _ maybe. _ ”

“And we’re not asking you to.” Annalise held her hands out placatingly at the increasingly defensive witch. “We heard that Shane was coaching you through some magic – it’s him who wants to raise Silas – you can’t trust him.” 

Bonnie crossed her arms defiantly. “He gave me my magic back, I owe him. He’s  _ my friend _ . He told me that I’m the only one who can access it, do the spell that opens where the cure’s held.”

In the next second, faster before either girl could react, Kol pressed Bonnie into the lockers with an echoing  _ BANG _ , drowning out Lis's startled, "Kol! What the fuck!" 

"So we're clear," Kol started, menacingly. He tightened his grasp on Bonnie, who glared back resentfully but was unable to break free, "no one can find the cure if you're too dead to perform the spell."

Just as Lis raised her hand to push Kol away from the girl angrily, he stumbled back from an unseen force. 

That...wasn’t her.

The air turned heavy and pregnant, and Annalise felt the dense, crushing feeling of dark magic sink heavily onto her shoulders as Bonnie raised her hand towards Kol blankly. The disturbingly familiar feeling got worse and as the magic whipped around her, knocking the air out of her lungs.  _ Fuck.  _

Lis’s heart stuttered as multiple cracks echoed, followed by Kol’s yells. His broken bones had him kneeling on the ground in front of the merciless young witch. Annalise gritted her teeth, then blinked into existence in front of Kol, facing the witch. She raised an arm up in defense, but also placatingly. “Bonnie, I know he tried to hurt you, but this isn’t right. I’m warning you, let him go.  _ Now _ .” 

The firm words seemed to break through the impassive hold that dark magic often had on it's caster -- recognition filled Bonnie's eyes, which widened in panic when another burst of magic escaped her, out of her control. Now it seemed as if a small hurricane had erupted into being inside the hallways of the Mystic Falls high school; balloons popped under the pressure one by one like gunshots echoing off the walls, and lockers opened and slammed shut in a grating cacophony – loose papers escaped the lockers and whipped around them in an unnatural wind. 

Bonnie whimpered, horrified. “ _ Help me.”  _

Instinct made Annalise reach out and grasp Bonnie's shoulder; and she braced herself unconsciously for what came next.

The air stilled – the loose papers froze in mid-air for a moment; then all of a sudden, a  _ tidal wave  _ of thick, viscous energy _ rushed  _ through her system and into the ground below. Her nerves lit up in a painful sequence, making her  _ scream. _

The energy drained away as abruptly as it had entered her – she felt strangely empty as she gasped with her sore throat, and lethargically detached from Bonnie, stumbling backwards into a warm hold.  _ Kol. _

Bonnie looked as disoriented as she felt. “What just happened?”

Lis’s gaze hardened as she looked at the girl. “Where the  _ fuck  _ did you learn Expression?”

Bonnie held herself against the wall behind her, stuttering at the sudden anger in Annalise’s eyes. “I-I- Shane. My magic wasn’t responding to me, so he taught me this.”

“Why the  _ fuck  _ is that  _ dick _ teaching you dark magic?” Annalise scowled harder. Kol shifted behind her back; his hands still lingering at her arms absentmindedly.

Bonnie shook her head vehemently, eyes wide. “No,  _ no _ he said it was a  _ neutral _ magic, one that wasn’t monitored by nature.”

“Well that’s a fucking flat-out  _ lie,  _ Expression draws on dark sacrificial magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were drawing on the power of the massacres. Shane orchestrated them.” Annalise’s anger rose unnaturally. She clenched her fists tightly to keep herself from going after the dickhead and  _ killing  _ him. Lis growled. “Don’t you understand? He  _ killed  _ innocent humans, planned the death of  _ my friends.  _ What more proof do you want?!” 

Bonnie’s face fell ashen at this new information. “No, no. I-”

Kol’s hand squeezed Lis’s shoulder, snapping her from her furious thoughts that were yelling ‘ _ kill!’  _ She took a deep breath, twinging at a sharp pain in her palms. 

“Bonnie.” Said witch looked up at her brokenly. Lis’s voice softened to something less harsh. “Expression is  _ unstable _ , you saw that first hand. You’re gonna kill yourself if you keep going like this.” 

Bonnie’s expression grew scared, before it stuttered then hardened as she glared at her with narrowed suspicious eyes. “I don’t believe you. You just want me to stop looking for the cure.” Bonnie stood straighter with renewed energy and spat angrily at them. “I won’t  _ stop,  _ you hear me? Leave me  _ alone.”  _ The witch stalked away angrily, leaving Lis vibrating in fury at her hostility.

_ Why didn’t that fucking child understand that she was trying to help?! _

Kol’s hands left her shoulder - which made it easier to listen to her tumultuous thoughts to  _ go after the bitchy witch and make her understand by any means necessary –  _ before they grasped her own gently, turning her. Annalise lifted her fiery glare towards Kol and hissed, “ _ What?” _

He looked taken aback as he studied her silver glare, then squeezed her palms lightly, making her wince and look down. 

Annalise realised she had clenched her hands so tight in anger that her nails had broken through skin, leaving small red crescent-shaped cuts in her palms. She peered back up to Kol confused. His gaze hadn’t left her face. “What’s going on? Why do I feel so  _ angry?” _

Kol furrowed his brow. “You interacted with dark magic directly – I’m guessing that’s what’s causing you to act out. Hasn’t this happened before?” Her eyes dropped down when she noticed something move along her skin. His thumb was thoughtlessly, gently, stroking her wrist.

He noticed too and pulled his hands away abruptly, turning away and shoving them in his pockets. The annoyance came flooding back and Lis scowled at him, before stalking ahead.  _ Shit _ , she’d just started to calm down, now she was getting angry again, and stupidly, that just angered her further. 

As she spoke, her tone took on a sharper edge. “I usually stay away from it. It makes me feel  _ sick  _ and unnatural. But yeah, this happened once before.” She scowled at the ground, scuffing her boot bitterly against it. “My parents; they were using Expression when they died – they killed a bunch of vampires, to draw on their magic. Tried to do the same to me. They were novices I guess, ‘cos I don’t think they ever got around to arranging a bloody  _ massacre. _ ” 

Her leg snapped out and kicked a nearby locker, hard, leaving a sizeable dent. Kol paused, watching her carefully; Annalise glared at him before she resumed walking. “It’s not  _ my  _ fault that little  _ brat  _ won’t trust me. Expression’s unstable. The energy snapping back to them is what  _ killed  _ them after all.” 

Kol nodded slowly, before brushing his arm against hers while they walked. A prickle spread across her skin, one that wasn’t connected to the dark magic running through her veins. “We should get you back to your room – that’s the most peaceful place for you right now. You need to wait until any residual feelings the dark magic left you with are gone.” 

Annalise agreed reluctantly despite her anger at being treated like a _goddamned_ _child_ being sent to their room for having a _tantrum,_ but knew deeper down this was best for her, and everyone around her. It just _sucked._ She touched his wrist and teleported both of them to her room.

As Lis collapsed irately onto her bed sideways, she patted the space next to her. Her vindictive side told her that she wanted him to feel how demeaning it was to be treated like a child, forced to do nothing despite every fibre of her being agitatedly telling her that she needed to  _ punch  _ something. Hard. 

He complied hesitantly, then after a moment, passed her one of his earbuds. She accepted, before closing her eyes and focusing on alternatively letting the music wash over her. The wire dangled in the space between them. She felt better. Slightly. Wait, no. Now she was more annoyed than anything else at the fact that he always knew how to calm her down. It was none of his goddamn business. 

Annalise scowled at the happy tinkle of her windchimes, watching them shift gently in the breeze blowing in from her open window. Gritting her teeth, she reached out with her rabid magic and willed the window shut. A violent crack, accompanied by a frenzied increase in happy tinkling told her she... _ might  _ have overdone it. She couldn’t bring herself to care. 

She looked at Kol instead. His eyes were shut, face lax and tipped up to the ceiling. His eyebrows raised ever so slightly in time with the music. 

Something inside her settled down. Not by much, but more than any previous efforts she'd made . Annalise rolled onto her side, her gaze trailing across the planes of his cheek and across the heavy line of his nose, down to his lips and chin, then back up again. The repetitive motion made her eyelids heavy, but she was almost hesitant to let them close completely. 

It wasn’t long before she laughably lost. 

-

Lis woke up groggily when the tones of an incoming call rung in her ear – Kol answered. “Jeremy Gilbert. Nice to see I’m still on your speed dial, mate. Hey, you wanna meet up at the batting cages in Denver?”

As he spoke, Lis checked outside her window and found the moon appeared to have risen recently. Delicately, she chose to ignore the sliver of a crack running through the otherwise unmarred transparent surface. That bad luck superstition only applied to broken mirrors...right? 

As Kol spoke in that British lilt of his, Annalise noticed she was feeling a lot better than before. Huh. She owed Kol one.  But better she might've felt now, there was still a lingering stiffness in her bones, and something like an icky residue that remained behind. How about she  _ never  _ do that again. 

“Actually, it’s Elena Gilbert.” She frowned when Elena’s voice filtered through their shared earbuds, and exchanged a quick look with Kol. They sat up, securing the earbuds in their ears as they shifted. Kol answered, gesturing for her to keep quiet.

“What a treat. Yeah, after my run in with your not-so-kind little witch, I had a little spare time to plot, and figured the only way that the cure won’t be discovered is by making sure your little brother is out of the equation. It  _ would  _ be easier to just kill him, but since I don’t want to spend the next few decades being haunted by him, I’d happily settle for ripping off his illustrated arm instead.” 

Lis glared at him weakly, she knew he was selectively choosing to ignore her promise to Bekah but he just shrugged. Elena’s worried voice filtered through. “I need to talk to you, in person. I wanna call a truce, in the name of Silas.” 

That...was unexpectedly good news. Annalise grinned relievedly, while Kol looked surprised at the development. “You want to talk about Silas? Sure, I’ll bring Lissa along.”

What she said must’ve really sunk into Bonnie eventually; maybe this was all gonna turn out fine – if Elena was standing down, maybe everyone would. There was still a lingering guilt born from her promise to Bekah, but if even the Mystic Falls gang realised the true gravity of Silas’s threat, maybe Rebekah would too. 

Annalise accepted the prophecy because she’d seen no way around it. But now...there was hope. She wasn’t going to look the gift-horse in the mouth, or whatever the fuck that phrase meant. 

Elena’s voice grew confident at catching Kol off-guard. “Um…I don’t think I’m comfortable seeing Lissie yet.”

Right...she’d forgotten. Annalise frowned at the floor. But...wasn’t it Elena that’d left her to die from Stefan’s bite? Wasn’t it  _ her  _ that had then explained it away by saying she couldn’t trust Lis to do what was in her and her friends’ best interests, when all she had needed to do was  _ apologize? _

Lis had  _ saved  _ the girl, so what the actual  _ fuck?  _

Why did it still hurt when it was Elena who’d done  _ her  _ wrong? Why did  _ she  _ feel guilty? 

Kol nudged her slightly, shaking his head at her before talking again. “You sure about that? She’s the only one who knows most about this entire situation.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure. What she knows, you know too, right? I’ll meet you wherever you want. I’ll come to you.”

Kol’s eyes narrowed at the disappointed curl tugging at Annalise’s lips before smirking deviously. “Tell you what, how about I come to you?”

Something about the way he looked at her suggested that Annalise could transport him there. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head, mouthing, ‘Rebekah’s promise.’ to Kol. He levelled her with a look, and she sighed. Annalise owed him...right? Plus, this was a parlay, a peace talk. This could solve  _ everything.  _ Lis sighed,  _ again,  _ before conceding reluctantly and reaching to tap his shoulder, teleporting him away to Elena’s front porch.

Annalise then fell heavily back on the bed, feeling a headache building up at the base of her skull. Rubbing her head, she chose to fall back into her nap. The stressful world could wait. 

Please. 

-

Her phone rang half an hour later, jolting her out of the almost coma she was in. Rubbing at her eyes blearily, she answered. “Kol?”

“Elena said she wants to stand down from finding the cure. Said the cure wasn’t worth endangering everyone she loved. She wants a truce.” His jovial voice had an unnerving underlying layer of darkness to it, but she ignored it in favour of seeing the hopeful win in their plan. 

Lis sat up, unable to stop herself from grinning slightly. “Kol this is great news!” And then her smile dropped. When push comes to shove, she couldn’t bring herself to imagine the disappointment on her friend’s face. “I- Wait. No. We can’t.  _ Bekah _ -”

“Exactly.” Kol interrupted. “My sister would stop at nothing to get it – she proved that when she tried to dagger me. Elena gave up far too easily for comfort, darling. And even if she did give up, her friends wouldn’t. Bonnie said as much this morning.”

Lis didn’t like the tone of voice he was speaking with. The darkness in it was impossible to ignore now. A sense of foreboding filled her, chilling her to her core. __ She straightened up and clambered out of bed. “Kol? Where are you going with this?” 

“I’ll just be a minute longer, Lissa.” The end dial tone rang in her ears, trepidation filled her.

_ Oh no. _

Annalise swore and grabbed the nearest jacket before hurriedly texting Nik and Bekah. 

‘ **Kol at Gilberts, trying to kill Jeremy.’**

She teleported to the Gilbert residence, already hearing yells and things being thrown around inside the house. Raising her hand, she blew the locked door in. Multiple rapid footsteps upstairs echoed overhead – she moved to run up the stairs, but a blinding pain in her shoulder had her stumbling into a wall, bracing herself with a yelp. She turned, gasping, and narrowed her eyes in disbelief. Baby Gilbert had another arrow locked and loaded, aimed straight at her chest.

She scowled at him. “What the  _ fuck?  _ I’m trying to make sure you don’t get  _ killed _ , idiot.” Jeremy lowered his weapon hesitantly, but Kol appeared suddenly and punched him.

Lis blinked in between the pair “Stop-”

Elena appeared from behind them, jumping on Kol’s back with a loud grunt, but he tossed her easily into a wall. He then wrenched out a wooden post from the staircase railing and impaled Elena through the abdomen and into the wall behind her, making her groan in shock and pain. 

Lis stepped forwards to help her, but a large arm grabbed her around the midsection and hauled her back. A sharp blade pressed hard enough under her jaw for her to feel a drop of blood roll down her neck. The crossbow bolt in her shoulder shifted, making her tear up and hiss in pain.

Kol looked a new level of murderous as he stared the young boy down.

“Let her go,  _ mate.”  _ He approached them like a predator. Her heart  _ thudded  _ in her chest. She wasn’t sure who she was more scared for. 

“Don’t come any closer.” She winced as Jeremy tightened his arm, the one that was curled around her chest and holding the blade to her neck, then cried out when his other one - which had been wrapped around her waist - went up and found the bolt sticking out of her shoulder, twisting it. 

Kol stopped dead in his tracks, but if looks could kill, Jeremy would already be on the Other Side.

Lis took this opportunity to gather her power and disappear from Jeremy’s hold – now appearing next to an immobilised Elena. A sudden gush of warm blood from her shoulder made her realise that when she’d teleported, she’d left behind the crossbow bolt in Jeremy’s hand. A brief glance in that direction revealed Kol had used her distraction to knock the lights out of Jeremy, before proceeding to drag him by an arm down the hallway and into the kitchen. 

Elena gripped her arm weakly. “Please, please help him.”

Annalise levelled her with a furious glare, knowing this attack was _ way  _ too orchestrated to be accidental – especially judging from the phone call before – but she ran off to the kitchen anyway. These kids were being stupid _ ,  _ but  _ unfortunately, _ that wasn’t a good enough reason for them to die horribly. Annalise made it to the kitchen, clutching her shoulder to find Kol had strapped Jeremy down to the kitchen counter. He stood Jeremy’s head, holding a massive cleaver in his hand and an angry glint in his eyes.

“Kol, don’t. Put the fucking knife down.” Lis managed to keep her voice steady despite her panic, already moving around the counter to try and loosen the boy’s bonds. Hands stopped hers immediately.

Kol used their joined hands to pull her towards him, leaning his face down close enough that she could see her reflection in his black, furious eyes. "He tried to  _ kill you _ ," he hissed angrily.

Before she could respond, Elena's energy flared behind her, but she couldn't move fast enough to move her out of the way. Annalise was jerked back,  _ thrown  _ like a ragdoll and landed half on the dining table with an audible  _ crack _ before she slid to the ground with a pained groan. The edge had caught her in her spine and a blinding pain erupted across her back. 

An agonised yell from Kol cut through her cloud of hurt _ ,  _ drawing her lethargic attention to the corner of the kitchen. The cleaver was now buried deep in Kol’s chest and Jeremy was spraying him with what looked like water from the detached tap – but the steam and blistering skin that erupted when the water made contact with his skin indicated it was filled with vervain. 

The magic inside her built in desperation – her spine cracked back into place and she found it easier to climb to her feet. She saw Elena reach for something in Kol’s jacket then throw it to Jeremy – his arm was nearly a blur, but she gathered her magic and  _ pulled _ Kol into her arms, stumbling back from his sudden weight.

Lis couldn’t support his weight for long, so with teeth gritted in pain, she fell hard on her knees and laid him flat on his back. 

It was then she noticed the rapid greying of his skin, and the silver-white wooden stake buried in his chest. Dread and pain struck her,  _ just like the scalding pain that had filled her when Finn had died, _ and a sob tore out of her throat. She gripped at his shirt desperately. “No, no, no. Please, Kol,  _ please _ .”

She  _ pulled  _ and _ pulled  _ at his energy,  _ pulled _ until her fingers dug tightly to something tangible. Her eyes snapped open at Elena’s low gasp to her right, and through her blurry tears she noticed that unlike the last time with Finn, the dark veins on Kol’s skin not only paused, but were receding inch by inch. Her magic had progressed! 

She did it. She actually  _ did it. _

She sniffled, smiling through her tears with hope as Kol’s eyes fluttered open slightly, and she thought that they’d never looked so _soft._ They sluggishly widened at the soft glow that she was emitting from her skin. “Lissa-”

And then something knocked her harshly out of the way, and before she knew it, she was sprawled against the hallway wall reaching out to Kol's form lying still on the floor. Elena buried something sharp and painful in Lis’s gut, but it all grew muffled as Jeremy casually _ pushed the stake in deeper with his foot, engulfing Kol’s body in a wrathful fire, his scream painful and haunting – _

Something inside Annalise broke. In a jerky last-ditch attempt to help Kol, she flung her hand, disappearing the stake out of Kol's chest back into her room. 

But it was too late.

His body burned, and burned, and a whimper rose up in her throat. She tried to pool her magic together, to do something -- anything, but she--

Elena hit her hard across the head. It was the same metal poker she'd impaled her with.

Her head exploded in pain.

The corners of her vision begun to turn black and fuzzy. She was vaguely aware of Nik and Rebekah standing at the front door sharing twin faces of horror. Their clothes became dull and muted as blood escaped Lis' mouth.

Her vision finally fell black to the echoes of agonised screams nearby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm...sorry? :)


	29. Like Plaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait, but here's the new chapter within the week as promised. I'm currently in the middle of my college exams, incredibly hard, and important, so I'm sorry I dropped the ball on last week's update. Still, I'm incredibly happy with how this chapter turned out! Hopefully this makes up for last week.   
> My thanks to my wonderful beta, junieyes!
> 
> Warnings of canon-typical violence, graphic description of blood and gore, and strong language as usual.   
> Enjoy!

A weak groan escaped her lips, and her mouth was dry and tasted of blood.

Fabric nearby rustled, and the surface her head lay on dipped as somebody shifted closer. She blinked heavy eyes open.

Everything ached as she tried to sit up - a large hand appeared at her back, steadying her. She winced away from the sore touch. There was a bruise, and she didn't need to see it know how awfully black and purple her back must be.

Lifting her head up, she paused, eyes catching on the blood splatter on the wall across from her. Mind blank, her gaze slowly drifted from the upturned furniture, splintered bits of wood flung across what she suddenly realised was the Gilbert family living room, and down to the floor where a--

Annalise stopped breathing.

…a charred corpse lay, undisturbed.

Bile rose up her throat, and she turned instinctively to the side – a vase appeared in her vision and she hurled up all the food she had eaten the day before. Her stomach seized, and residual pain from her gut wound sparked to life, making her groan in pain. 

When she looked up, Nik’s despondent eyes had concern bleeding into them. Lis dry heaved a couple more times, before a sob broke free – he wordlessly removed the vase from her hand and drew her into a silent hug. Her despair felt bone deep, so heavy and frustratingly constant that she wished it was pain instead. Pain would have been a mercy. Pain was something she knew she could get past. 

Nik patted her softly on the head as she clutched at him tighter – her voice cracked weakly. “I’m sorry.”

“No, Lissie.” Nik held her tighter before releasing her, gently squeezing her shoulder. “The blame doesn’t lie with you.”

He stared at her for a moment, before hesitantly speaking again. “We forget sometimes that you get hurt more easily than we do – when Rebekah and I saw you impaled, and bleeding, we thought you were going to die.”

Annalise shifted and her back twinged in pain as she folded in on herself, her watery gaze set firmly outside the window. Something was clawing at her chest and up her throat. She shuddered, but shallow breaths didn’t lift the heavy weight crushing her down. Eyes flicked, they caught on to the suburban eggshell white walls - strangely unmarred and looking empty when compared to the wall behind her, decorated by stark red blood. 

“I’m surprised the house’s still standing.” Her voice didn’t sound like hers; it was toneless, indifferent. “I suppose you killed them though?” It cracked when she mentioned their death. She hated that she still cared. 

“No.” Nik’s chest lifted as he sighed. She blinked slowly. She felt relief, something less. It was quickly destroyed by whatever was ripping at her lungs. “I was going to, but then the Bennett witch trapped me in this boundary spell with Rebekah. Stefan convinced her that you had helped him in his effort to sabotage Rebekah getting her cure.”

There was something new in her chest. It coiled and festered, aggressively beating away that weight on her chest - Annalise scowled. Her fists clenched and her shoulders stiffened in anger. When she spoke, her voice was stronger. “Where did they take her?” 

Nik’s grip on her shoulder tightened in response to her metaphorical hackles raising. Laughably, like he was holding her back, “Rebekah left with them to the island holding the cure yesterday morning. No doubt they’ve arrived by now.” She ignored his stare drilling into the side of her head. “Did it hurt, like it did last time?” 

The drowning weight creeped back in, but her tear tracks remained dry on her face, leaving it stiff and set like plaster. Words didn’t come immediately to her, so she nodded numbly against his shoulder until they did. “Yeah. Like Finn, but...worse. A lot worse.” Lis cleared her hoarse throat. “I think I felt their deaths, his sire line. The first- it hurt the most. The rest just...fell.” 

Nik was quiet - the silence was overbearing, loud... _ stifling.  _ She was finding it hard to breathe again. She had to- move, escape it. She stood up in a rush, shaking his hand off - her head spun dizzily, but she still continued until her hand came into contact with an invisible wall. Lis pushed at it weakly, but it didn’t give. Her magic was slower to respond as she called it. It crashed against the barrier in a lethargic wave, powerful, but...something felt as though it was missing. 

“It won’t work. It’s not like Esther’s spell.” Nik spoke up from behind her, still sitting on the couch. Annalise cocked her head slightly, still staring at her palm pressed into the air like a mime. “She knew that she needed to bind the spell to something powerful to contain you. She bound it to something you couldn’t manipulate. The moon.” 

Lis drew another scowl, she hung her head for a moment before frustration overwhelmed her. She grit her teeth and pressed harder against the invisible wall. She didn’t realise when she started hitting it. Harder, and harder and  _ harder _ . She was so stupid, so  _ fucking _ useless.

Something caught between a sob and a yell escaped her chest; her magic pulsed outwards. 

Successive cracks filled the silence as the windows within the boundary spell cracked, but didn’t shatter. 

She felt Nik’s sad eyes watch her as she slumped down tiredly to the floor.

“Bonnie thought of everything – my magic’s also enclosed within the spell.” She muttered defeatedly, “Guess being a fucking deity doesn’t mean jack-shit.” 

-

They sat in complete silence for a couple hours before Tyler walked in through the front door. He worriedly headed straight for Annalise, still sitting slumped in a corner against the boundary. 

“You’re awake. How are you?”

He visibly fought back a wince at the dead look in her eyes, and her whole body crusted in dry blood.  Annalise smiled blandly. "I don't know Tyler, you tell me. I've been shot, impaled, hit over the head, and had my spine broken. My friend is dead - no thanks to  _ your _ friends - and I felt it. I  _ felt _ him die. How do you  _ think _ I'm feeling?"

This time there was no hiding the guilty wince that flashed across his face. “I’m sure Elena and Jeremy didn’t mean-”

Her unimpressed stare had him tapering off weakly. Those words were weak, powerless and frankly laughably hollow in light of the shitshow that had happened. 

Tyler nodded shallowly, and unable to bear the weight of her silent stare any longer, his gaze flicked to Nik.  “You deserve this.” His tone was weak, like he was trying to convince himself. “You- you nearly killed my mother. You killed my friends, my  _ pack. _ ” Tyler stood straighter, looking Nik in the eye. “You look powerless, and pathetic.” 

Annalise felt her gaze harden into a stare, but Nik stood, unworried and casual. “Only until Bonnie’s spell wears off.” He shrugged, stalking to the boundary and staring Tyler down, threatening him with an air of casual indifference. “Then I’ll look different. Angrier, perhaps. Or I won’t look like anything because I’ll have gouged out your eyeballs from their sockets.” Nik’s sharp grin and murderous eyes had Tyler stepping backwards on instinct. All sense of false bravado dropped. 

Nik offered Annalise a hand, and she let him pull her to her unsteady feet. Tyler recovered, scowl worsening. “My friends will be back with the cure by then. I’m gonna shove it down your throat and make you mortal.” 

What the  _ fuck  _ was wrong with these people?! Anger boiling in her veins, Annalise glared at him harder. 

Nik lifted an eyebrow challengingly. “I’m an Original. What makes you think that my entire bloodline won’t be cured with me,  _ including _ you?” 

“You wanna know what I think?” Tyler found his footing once more. “I think that’s impossible. I think the moment you stop being a vampire, our whole blood connection to you is broken, and your sire line breaks so what happens to you, happens  _ only  _ to you. Which means I can kill your ass and no one else has to die; although I’m still debating how to do it.”

Lis didn’t react outwardly as Nik lunged at Tyler, the barrier halting him in his tracks just inches from Tyler. He  _ seethed.  _ “I recommend drowning. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of someone fighting for something as basic as their breath. Almost makes me want to finish what I started.”

Tyler’s face twisted into something uglier, but Annalise pulled Nik back. “Stop it, Nik, he’s not fucking worth it.” Turning to Tyler she met his hard gaze with her own blistering silver glare. “Your mum was innocent, your friends  _ fucking  _ aren’t. They’re mass murderers. I was trying to help them fight Kol, when it turns out they were planning on killing him  _ all along.”  _ Her voices broke again, but her glare didn’t weaken. 

“I am literally so _ done.  _ Don’t you  _ dare  _ try to hurt my friends again.” 

Tyler nodded again wordlessly, before walking away into the kitchen area. Annalise’s gaze didn’t follow him - she knew what awaited her if she looked in that direction. It was hard to breathe again. 

Nik smirked at Annalise proudly when she turned to him, ruffling her hair. She whacked his arm away half-heartedly, before walking back to the couch to curl up in the corner. Rain pattered against the cracked glass, sliding down the path created by the crevices in little rivulets. When had it started raining? 

It didn’t matter. None of it did, not when she could enjoy it, and he... _ couldn’t.  _

Was there a way she could bring him back? Messing with the veil – that was dark stuff, but would it be that bad? Surely she could bear the sickness and anger for a friend…she shook her head lightly. 

No. What’s dead should stay dead. 

That thought hurt her heart more than she liked to admit. 

Maybe there was a way around this that  _ didn’t  _ require dark magic. She chewed the inside of her cheek in thought, curling further into the couch. She couldn’t wait to get out of here and start her research. She refused to accept that Kol, with his dark eyes and sharp grins, was just  _ dead _ .

“Ugh, of course it’s raining the day I spent an hour on my hair.” Caroline entered the house through the backdoor with an annoyed bang, going straight into the kitchen, agitated to find Tyler facing their captives. “You’re still here? What are you doing?” 

“Gloating.” Tyler’s voice was deceptively light. 

Nik’s footsteps stepped lightly in the direction of their voices as Lis tried burying her head in the cushions to drown out the out-of-place domestic happening in front of the burnt fucking corpse of her friend. Did they have no shame? 

“Hello Caroline.” 

It was quiet for a moment – Lis could only imagine the scathing look that the blonde aimed at Nik before she continued speaking as if he hadn’t spoken at all. “Come home. Don’t stoop to his level.” 

Tyler sounded defensive. “He practically destroyed my life; tried to kill my mother. I plan on being present for every second of his misery until I can kill him myself.” 

Lis unfurled and glared at Tyler. Tyler held his hands up placatingly. 

Caroline just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay, now that’s out of the way; this place is a disaster. We need to clean it up.” Caroline eyed Kol’s body repulsively. “Starting with the horrific burnt corpse.” 

Annalise stood up, the sound of blood roaring in her ears, directing her full glare to Caroline as she spread a tablecloth over the body. “Careful, blondie. That’s my  _ friend  _ you’re talking about.” She didn’t notice the steady increase in the roar of the rain outside, battering against the heavy windows. 

Nik looked equally as hurt and insulted as Lis did, if not more. This was his brother after all. He did a better job at swallowing his retorts than she did though. He grimaced. “My brother is dead. Your mother isn’t, as an act of dear Lissie’s mercy. You owe us one.” Nik looked to Caroline seriously. “Call Bonnie. Get her to let us out of here.” 

Caroline’s face twisted into an angry scowl. “I will never,  _ ever,  _ help you.” 

Lis glowered right back at her as Nik rebuked lowly. “What about her?” Lis looked at him in confused, as he gestured towards her. “She’s done nothing but help all of you, fought me at every turn to keep you safe – she didn’t even  _ know  _ you and she defended each of you pathetic little children against me. What’s stopping you from letting her out,  _ feeding her?”  _

Tyler’s eyes widened in remembrance and he reached for a brown paper bag that she hadn’t noticed before, tossing it to her. Lis watched the paper bag land sadly on the sofa behind her. 

How pleasant. 

Caroline was quiet for a long moment, before her eyes hardened just a little. “She deserves all this, ‘cos she’s friends with  _ you.”  _

"Grow the fuck up." Annalise chuckled lightly, but when she spoke, her tone was cold and unforgiving. "Did you seriously just justify the murder of his family, my  _ friend  _ by saying Nik’s done  _ worse?  _ You’re screwed up. _ ”  _

Caroline stalked closer heatedly. “At least I haven’t developed the world’s  _ worst  _ case of Stockholm’s Syndrome. How can you work for someone like  _ him?  _ He tortured you for a week and a half! _ ” _

An incredulous laugh escaped her. “What? Like you guys are the epitome of all that’s good? Elena and Jeremy just  _ killed  _ one of my best friends and killed thousands more vampires in the process! Not to mention, Elena and Matt staked Finn when he was out on a  _ fucking date.  _ Talk to me when you get off your high  _ fucking  _ horse and admit the fact that you’re just as bad as any of them when your friends’ lives are on the line.” 

Caroline angrily crossed her arms, her mouth opened and shut a few times as she tried to think of a rebuttal. “Klaus is a monster, Kol was a  _ monster.  _ We could  _ never  _ be as bad as them.” 

Lis started forwards furiously, only pausing when she felt Nik’s firm hand on her shoulder as he spoke up. “How quickly you forget the part where I saved Tyler from the misery of being a werewolf? Or the night your mother invited me into her home to save the life of her precious daughter?” 

Caroline walked closer to the boundary as Tyler kept watching wordlessly from the back. Lis rolled her eyes as Caroline’s bitchy voice picked up steam again. “How delusional are you? You nearly  _ killed his mother.  _ Oh, and how about we tell dear  _ Lis  _ about how we’re standing in a house where Elena’s aunt Jenna used to live? Or did you think that your charm would make us forget how you killed her too? You know what? No.” Caroline visibly stopped herself from getting angrier, Lis raised an eyebrow, dull amusement cut through her fog of sadness and loss as the girl continued acting all prissy. “I am not going to engage in this. You are not even worth the calories I burn talking to you.” 

Annalise felt her eyebrows raise at the absurdity of that insult, not realising that Nik had been luring Caroline closer to them the entire time – in a split second, he had impaled her through her stomach with the stand of a nearby floor lamp to haul her across to their side of the boundary before biting her viciously in quick succession. 

Tyler sprang forward with a “No!” as Caroline fell to the ground unconsciously with a thump. 

Annalise looked towards Nik in faint surprise.  “Huh. Tad violent, but well-deserved.” 

Nik just shrugged at her gleefully. “Glad you agree. That was definitely worth the calories.” Lis couldn’t keep in the completely inappropriate smile that tugged at her stiff lips foreignly – Tyler just glared at Nik hatefully from the floor, cradling his girlfriend.

-

Caroline was whimpering in panic as soon as she woke up, Tyler was quietly assuring her that he would fix this. Well, Annalise knew there was no way a big ol’ softy like Klaus Mikaelson was ever gonna let a young girl die – especially one that he had a massive crush on, despite her overall bitchiness and frankly unflattering immaturity. 

Lis made herself comfortable on the sofa and sat back, the bagel sandwich that she had found in the paper bag tasted like dust in her mouth – she  _ had no appetite _ , she just  _ needed  _ a distraction. Just,  _ anything  _ to get her mind off of the way Kol grinned at her mischievously every time she did something wrong, or how he’d join her wordlessly on the balcony whenever she woke up from a nightmare. Her monster had returned, this time it clenched her heart in a bruising grip.  _ Fuck,  _ she blinked away the sudden moisture in her eyes. 

She was going to help him. She had to at least try. 

While she had been distracted by her own thoughts, she had nearly missed Tyler plead Nik to save Caroline’s life. Nik had pridefully denied, but Lis knew him well enough that he was starting to regret his decision as Tyler carried a disgusted Caroline out of the house for the moment. 

She spoke up softly, finishing off the last of her sandwich. “You good, bud?” 

Nik’s eyes crinkled as he passed her a quick smile – one of the fakest she’d ever seen. She raised her eyebrows – he just sighed, sitting down opposite her. 

“I  _ am  _ sorry, you know? For hurting you.” 

Lis smiled at him softly, sadly. “I know, mate.” 

“You were right. I like planning ahead, watching everything unfold the way I want it to. When you realised what I had planned, you were right. About everything. I didn’t know how to feel about it, so I did what I could to gain control of the situation.” 

“You got rid of me – the variable.” Annalise huffed, holding the cushion tighter to her chest. 

Nik was quiet for a long moment before he spoke again. “Thank you, for staying.” 

Annalise nodded at him tiredly with a small smirk. “Wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else.” She let out a little sigh. “I’m going to make this right.”

Nik nodded; his eyes misted as he looked toward the cloth-covered shape on the ground. “My brother, he may have done a great many misdeeds in his past, but he treasured your friendship, Lissie. You should know that.” 

Lis sniffled, clearing her throat. “What makes you think that?” 

Nik smiled at her lightly. “He let you hug him out of a murder spree.”

A choked laugh escaped her as more tears did. “It  _ was  _ a good hug, in his defence.” She curled her own arms around her unconsciously holding herself tighter – Nik’s eyes tracked the movement. 

Annalise went to speak again before she stopped herself; her eyes flicked to Tyler, who was carrying a sicker-looking Caroline back into the house, laying her gently on their side of the border, before standing up to look at Nik defiantly. “You want to be in control, Klaus? Here. Now you get to be in control of her life. If you want her to die, fine. But then you can sit here and watch her die yourself.” He strode right back out of the house dramatically. 

Lis watched on, reluctantly impressed. This was definitely a power move – even Tyler couldn’t deny that Nik was entirely merciless; in fact, he was betting on the opposite. 

Nik approached Caroline watching warily from the ground. He smirked lightly. “Nothing personal, love. If I cure you, that means victory for him. Don’t worry, it won’t be long now.” 

Caroline closed her eyes, losing consciousness. 

Well, that didn’t bode well for her. 

-

It had been a couple hours now – Nik had not-so-politely kicked Lis out of the couch to deposit Caroline on it instead, claiming that she had the priority since she  _ was,  _ in fact, dying. 

Lis had shrugged, curling up in the armchair opposite instead. There was no fight left in her, she felt too empty. 

Nik had been pacing a path into the rug as Caroline remained unconscious. Her eyes tracked him tiredly, taking note of the grim displeased curve downwards of the corners of his lips, the heavy-set frown marring his brows. It lifted in relief as Caroline shifted, waking up, then returned once more. 

This decision to help Caroline or leave her to die was truly hurting him, wasn’t it? 

Her gaze flicked to Caroline expressionlessly as she croaked. The self-righteous anger had left the young girl, now she just looked scared. “If you don’t feed me your blood, I’ll die.” 

Nik didn’t stop pacing behind her. “Then you’ll die, and Tyler will have learned his lesson the hard way.” 

“How could you do this to him? To me?” 

Nik paused before smirking callously. “I’m a thousand years old. Call it boredom.” 

“I don’t believe you.” 

He walked closer. “Fine. Then maybe it’s because I’m pure evil, and I can’t help myself.” 

“It’s because you were hurt. Which means that there’s a part of you that is human.” Lis raised an eyebrow –she’d really underestimated this girl, maybe she wasn’t as shallow as she had originally thought. After all, Nik had to have seen  _ something  _ in her. 

Nik sat on the coffee table next to the sofa, right beside her. “How could you possibly think that?” 

Caroline hesitated. “Because I’ve seen it. Because…I’ve caught myself wishing that I could forget all the horrible things that you’ve done.” 

Annalise frowned to herself as she heard the weight Nik’s next words carried. “But you can’t, can you?” 

The young vampire took a moment to mull over her answer. “I know that you’re in love with me,” Caroline started slowly, “And anybody capable of love is capable of being saved.” 

Annalise looked up at Nik in concern as he looked away with slightly glistening eyes, clearly Caroline’s words had hit home. He looked back at the blonde laying on the couch. “You’re hallucinating.” 

The apprehension in his voice made Annalise’s decision for her. Silently unfurling and approaching the blonde, she placed a hand on Caroline’s shoulder. Her magic moved easily through into the werewolf bite – so easily that Annalise felt an ugly bitterness claw up into her throat once more – what was the point of being a  _ goddamned  _ freak if it failed her when it mattered the most? 

Nik’s hard stare drilled into her as she kept channelling her magic into the wound; it had taken her nearly an hour to heal Bekah when she hadn’t really done anything apart from hold her hand, so more magic over a longer period of time was needed to heal it fully. It made sense – magical wounds required, well...magic. 

The festering wound healed up before their very eyes - Caroline pulled the collar of her shirt away from her neck to examine it further – all that remained was a dark bruise where a rotting bite should’ve been. Annalise stepped away silently after a few minutes, the job completed. 

Caroline sat up, still looking confused, making her hands into a time out gesture before pointing at Lis. “Wait, you? Helped me? After I insulted you?”

Lis shrugged tiredly. This wasn’t about the her. 

Caroline stood and uncertainly smiled at her. “Well, thank you,” she passed a glance to Nik too, he was still looking away in thought. Caroline viewed him warily, then sped out of the house. 

Annalise fell back into her default curled up position back on the sofa that Caroline had vacated, clutching a pillow to her chest. Nik made himself comfortable on the opposite end of it, wordlessly passing the blanket draped across its back. 

“You should’ve let me handle it, Lissie.” 

She sighed. “Maybe I should’ve Nik. It’s not that I didn’t think you’d heal her, I promise, I had faith in you. I lied. I healed her for a different reason.” She picked at a loose thread on the embroidered cushion in her lap sadly. “You were practically fighting with yourself – between your pride, and your morals. If you heal her, you show you’re merciful; not as much of a threat. If you don’t heal her, you’d never forgive yourself. You lose either way. I figured, might as well take the choice away from you, and show everyone  _ I’m  _ the weak, bleeding heart instead.” 

Nik nodded at her, frowning. “You once said it isn’t a weakness to show mercy, love.” 

“It is, sometimes. I know that now.” Annalise smiled sadly, burrowing further into the blankets, burying her instinct to look over to where her friend lay dead. “People take advantage of kindness. So I figured, better me than you. Then you can keep your tough guy persona to scare everyone away. Stop them from doing stupid shit.” 

“How do  _ you _ do it?”

Lis hummed in his direction. Nik elaborated. “Caroline said she couldn’t forget all the horrible deeds I’ve done. How do you still treat me as if I’m your best friend?” 

“That’s because you  _ are _ , idiot. I don’t forget everything you’ve done wrong, even if I don’t always understand why you did what you did. Maybe it’s because you’re hurt, like she said.” Lis yawned before continuing. “Maybe it’s calculated. Maybe you just made a mistake. I won’t pretend to know your past, Nik, but I do know the man who was about to go back on his threat and offer a dying girl his blood without expecting anything in return.  _ That’s  _ my best friend.” 

“And what about the other thing she said? About how people capable of love could be saved?” 

Lis snorted into her pillow before stretching her foot to nudge his arm gently. “I think that’s absolute bullshit.” 

Nik looked at her surprised, hurt, even. She rubbed her eyes and elaborated. “Saving implies there’s something you need to be saved  _ from.  _ Unless what you need to be saved from is making idiotic life choices – which is a point that can  _ definitely  _ be argued at a later date, and I’m the worst person to come to about it – I think you’re pretty capable of looking after yourself.” Annalise burrowed deeper into her blanket. 

“No, I think if you’re capable of love, you’re capable of  _ redemption.  _ No one’s perfect, but if someone cares enough – they’re capable of moving past their mistakes, fixing them, righting their wrongs, and all that jazz. It’s all up to you at the end of the day. You need to  _ want _ to change, and I think you sometimes do. It’s just too dangerous for you. I understand now.” 

Despite the weight of her eyelids threatening to take her away into a restless sleep, her mind felt tumultuous – it wouldn’t let her rest. It turns out burning friends, explosive bubbles and too-tight hugs proved for pretty good nightmare material. 

  
  


-

Her eyes were shut tight in both pain and exhaustion – her chest ached with every breath she took, and even the slightest breeze irritated her skin as it blew gently past her.  _ Fuck,  _ she  _ hated _ Nik. At least the faint patter of rain on her skin distracted her the smallest bit. 

Sighing and shifting again with a wince, she reached forcefully inwards, searching for her familiarly palpable magic. It was non-complacent, slippery, like a stubborn piece of eggshell that kept evading her every time she tried fishing it out. Only difference is, a debilitating pain swept through her each time she reached for it. Some bird squawked, adding to the near silent symphony of crickets and the trees nearby shifting in the bright moonlight. The sound of light rain hitting the foliage created a static-y background noise that blocked the outside world away from her. The fountain gurgled, adding to the sounds of the calming nightlife. 

Another wave of ache wracked through her, worse than the ones before, drawing a hurt gasp from her throat.

“That one seemed painful.” 

Her eyes flew open in surprise as she twisted abruptly in the direction of the low voice, nearly falling into the fountain on which she was sitting cross-legged on the ledge of. Heavy puffs of air escaped her lungs as she raised an arm to calm her chest in relief, feeling the ache settling once more into her bones after the sudden adrenaline receded. 

“Jeez, Kol. Wear a bell next time.” 

“I’ll consider it.” Kol moved out of the shadow of the trees, approaching her silently. He settled next to her in imitation of the night they had first truly spoken. Lis passed him a tired smile as he continued, dark eyes looking impossibly darker than the night. “I myself find rain very calming, but I have to ask, what are you doing, darling?” 

Annalise ran a tired hand through her damp hair, shrugging. “I couldn’t sleep. The medallion- I…everything just hurts. My magic hurts. What if you were wrong? What if the medallion _has_ eaten my magical soul away? What if I stay defective for the rest of my life because Nik was _insecure?!”_

Kol shifted.

“What you said last night, about family – I know how you feel, darling, god knows how many times I’ve contemplated killing my brother for daggering me for centuries, but for the first time in my… _ life,”  _ he chuckled incredulously, “I find myself apologizing on his behalf. I- He’s a complicated man, to say the least, Lissa. He made a mistake, miscalculated. He regrets it, that much is clear.”

“It wasn’t a mistake, Kol.” Annalise crossed her arms to fight the chill of the night settling into her bones. “It’s not like he forgot something on a grocery list – no he fucking tortured me. He saw what that necklace  _ did  _ to me and enlisted another witch’s help to make it  _ worse.  _ The only thing he regrets is the fact that now he has to deal with the consequences.” 

Kol raised an amused eyebrow. “What consequences are those exactly, Lissa? The  _ scathing _ argument you had? Or how about you glaring holes into his head every time he enters a room?” He chuckled. “Your  _ punishments  _ aren’t exactly what’s haunting him right now, it’s his guilt. The worst thing you threatened to do was leave, even now, I know you’re considering it. Frankly, I wouldn’t blame you. I’ve always found my family hard to bear. But I find myself oddly glad you didn’t. Nik would have been incessantly vexing to deal with.”

Annalise sourly hunched. “Gee, thanks for pointing out how much of a doormat I am.” 

He nudged her arm. “Lesser men have killed for, well…less.  _ I’ve _ killed for less. Compassion is an uncommon trait, one I find weak, but at times, admirable.” 

Annalise rolled her eyes at his backhanded compliment, then watched the water ripple in the fountain as small drops of rain broke it’s already broken surface. She narrowed her gaze drily. “Well, look where compassion’s got me here – sitting on the edge of a fountain on a rainy night with a self-declared murderer trying to painfully reconnect with my magic.” 

Kol huffed, but was silent for a moment longer, before he spoke contemplatively. “What does it feel like?” 

“Like I’m in this storm pulling an umbrella against its strong winds and it’s moments away from turning inside-out. It’s resisting me, evading me.” She shrugged. “While being constantly electrocuted.” 

He raised his eyebrows then nodded. He tilted his head as if he were remembering something. “Your magic…you said that you don’t channel it, that instead you are at one with everything around you; right now it sounds as if you’re forcing it through your injured self instead of just letting it flow. I believe you need to relax first. Clear your mind, darling. Allow yourself to connect to nature once more.” 

She looked at him, surprisingly touched that he’d remembered from so long ago; and pleased that his advice…made  _ complete  _ sense. Nodding slightly, she shut her eyes, felt the bone-deep ache in her bones as she opened her sense to lose herself in the surrounding  _ flood  _ of magic. All at once, it seemed as if her pain had melted away as she felt the trill of the magic in a cool breeze brush past her playfully, and the trees reached their branches out in comfort. Her troubles and pain seemed so strangely small and  _ mortal,  _ while the water gushing at her feet flowed, and the small raindrops fell from the heavens with effortlessly light abandon. Lighter than the air itself. 

Something within her lifted.

_ “Lissa,” _ A breathless whisper from her side had her serenely opening her eyes, finding the mortal pain so much easier to bear…then felt immediately enraptured by the sight before her. Small droplets of water peppered the air around them, still rising from the fountain to sit amongst the suspended rain drops, looking almost crystalline in appearance. The bright moonlight reflected silver alongside her glowing eyes in the water. 

A disbelieving laugh escaped her as she turned to an equally captivated Kol. Her distraction at her sudden happiness had more of the fountain rising upwards into the sky - her magic had returned. With one last exuberant pulse of power, Annalise found herself drenched in the sudden cascade of the water falling back down to earth, with laughter ringing through the air. The familiar weight of the pain left behind by the medallion suddenly seemed so much easier to bear. 

Kol’s face bright with amused awe flickered and splintered - she smelt smoke. 

Something in the distance splintered loudly – and Annalise found herself sitting up with a loud gasp, eyes burning with power. 

Nik was at the invisible boundary, looking back at her, next to a large silver crack extending upwards in mid-air. Her dream, no,  _ memory  _ had-

Comprehension filled both Nik and Lis simultaneously – then Annalise  _ pushed.  _

The resulting shattering of the boundary, accompanied by the louder cracking of the glass of windows exploding outwards had them ducking down out of instinct. A car alarm blared in the distance. 

Annalise couldn’t bring herself to smile as victoriously as Nik did when she teleported them back home. They were free, but she had never felt more burdened.

She hated this feeling of  _ loss _ . Steeling herself, she straightened, looking through her window with a delicate crack running through it, down to the fountain below. 

She was going to get him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to have the next chapter done by the next weekend. <3   
> Hope you enjoyed! :)


	30. Stand by Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm back to regular updates every Sunday! Exam season was horrible, I'm insanely glad to leave it all behind.  
> Warnings: Strong Language  
> Enjoy!

Nik was angrily pacing a hole into the expensive rug of her favourite study while she had her laptop sitting to the side, open on an online forum. It had been a very restless, sleep-deprived night, and the current cup of strong coffee she was nursing in her hands was the only thing even keeping her remotely conscious. Well, that and the fact that falling asleep meant that her nightmares would come back. 

It was easier to focus on the superficial things, like Nik plotting how to get back at literally everyone involved - probably with murder involved somewhere along the line - rather than that ugly thing she felt festering in her chest. 

“Nik,” He paused in his pacing. “Are you going to kill them all?” He appraised her critically before tilting his head. 

“What if I am?” 

Annalise felt her expression harden still, before she shook it. “You could kill Tyler and Caroline, but then, what if everyone comes back from their little trip with the cure to find their friends dead? They’d hurt you, and I can’t have another  _ death-”  _ She stopped herself when it seemed as though she was about to break, taking a moment to collect herself before she continued. “They’re stupid as shit, but things have this uncanny way of working out for them. So you wouldn’t do that. Second option; you let the people here be, and then the gang comes back, you could kill all your eggs in one basket but…”

“But what, Lissie?” 

“But that doesn’t matter, does it? Nothing matters if they wake Silas. You know you can’t hurt them just yet. You-you’re gonna lie in wait.” 

“To kill them. You don’t sound particularly worried, love.” 

Annalise took a silent sip of her coffee. “I don’t particularly feel much of anything right now, to be honest. I guess I’m...focused, but that isn’t a feeling..” She looked towards her laptop. “I told myself I’m gonna get him back, but all I can do right now is just...wait. And any anger that I have about it, burns for a while, and then it’s just gone, ‘cos a flame can’t survive in a vacuum, yeah?” She paused, realising she’d gotten off track. “I- I don’t want you to kill them though.” She ran her fingers around the rim of her mug. “But I don’t want to try to stop you and watch them hurt another friend.”

Nik nodded slowly, appeased, before tilting his head contemplatively. “Lying in wait it is, then. Though I feel it won’t be long.” 

Heels clacked angrily through the front door and down the hallway, proving him right. They were far too predictable. 

Caroline’s familiar signature appeared powerless and dull, compared to theirs, and it made Lis feel better. As the girl strutted confidently into the room, it didn’t seem like that fact bothered her, however. Nik’s eyes tracked her, letting a very dangerous air surround him. 

Tyler was nowhere in sight, or on the property at all. Her brows drew together; confused, more than impressed at the way Caroline held herself when facing down the Original with a hip jutted in attitude, facing Nik as if he hadn’t just been their prisoner. Where did her bravado come from?

“I need your sword.”

“I’m sure you do.” Lis’s lips lifted involuntarily at Nik’s glib innuendo, she hid it behind her coffee cup expertly, taking another sip as he approached Caroline. “But I do believe it’s only polite to explain why, first.” 

Caroline shifted unsurely on her feet before giving them more information. “Damon, Shane, Jeremy and Bonnie have gone missing. Shane was the only one who knew where the cure was, but now we don’t have him, we need your sword for the map.” 

Nik smiled, still looking unbothered. “I fail to see how this affects me, love.” 

“Wait,” Annalise frowned. “Literally half your friends have gone missing and you want the map to the cure?” 

Caroline rolled her eyes. “If it’s Shane, he’ll be taking Bonnie and Jeremy to the cure, so we can ambush them there.” 

“What about Damon then? There’s obviously something else happening here. No way Shane won in a fight against him.” 

“He’s a big boy, he can take care of himself.” Caroline crossed her arms, and Annalise shrugged. It wasn’t her problem anymore. “Now, where’s the sword?” 

Nik let out an amused chuckle, green eyes twinkling with danger. “I might have found your utter shamelessness charming on any other day, but you seem to have forgotten that we were your prisoners only a few hours prior, after your friends murdered my brother in cold-blood. Which is why, I believe, my first and coincidentally most disloyal hybrid has presumably run for the hills?” He walked over and braced his arms on the back of the sofa behind Lis with a considering smile. “Yet you stand there fearlessly.” 

“Lis won’t let you hurt me.” 

“Yeah, you know what?” Annalise rolled her eyes tiredly. “Go fuck yourself.” 

“But you healed me.” Caroline looked lost. 

“Yeah, but not everything’s about you, is it?” Annalise sipped at her coffee before looking upwards to face Nik grudgingly. “But she does have a point. Silas can’t rise - he’d destroy the world; we need to stop Shane.” 

“Great.” Caroline huffed as Nik stared off into the distance probably weighing the benefits of choosing to help. “Good enough for me. Tyler and I will-”

“Tyler? You’re  _ really _ pushing your luck today, love.”

Caroline’s glare never faltered. “You have the sword, we have the map.” She shook her phone, indicating that it had the photos. “We work together, with Tyler, or we don’t work together at all.” 

Annalise shot Nik a tired glance, and he acquiesced reluctantly after a moment before turning back to Caroline. “Well, it seems we’ve found ourselves in a temporary alliance.” 

“Perfect. We’ll meet in half an hour.” 

_ - _

It was a little less than an hour later that Caroline walked back into the mansion, this time with a laptop in her hands and Tyler trailing after her unsurely. Lis hadn’t moved, still staring deep into the fireplace, but Nik had made himself comfortable in his favourite armchair next to her with the sword laid across his lap. Caroline and Tyler uneasily sat across them, placing their printed photos and laptop on the coffee table. 

“Well, if it isn’t my traitorous little hybrid Lockwood. Come to show how laughably impotent you are against me?” 

Tyler shrugged. “I’m just trying to help my friends find the cure.” 

“Feeling generous, I’m sure. Stark difference from when you were dreaming up ways to kill me while I was your captive.” Nik lifted the sword, uncovering the hilt as Tyler shifted in discomfort. He proceeded to unwrap the leather around the hilt of the sword, revealing some sort of device with symbols marked on it. Annalise watched shrewdly as Caroline and Tyler leaned in to look at the sword with more curiosity. 

Tyler frowned, “What’s that?” 

Caroline studied the hilt closer, gaze narrowing. “It’s called a cryptex.” At Tyler’s questioning look, she elaborated further with a small shrug. “I’ve seen the Da Vinci Code. You turn the different sides to the different symbols to get the translation on the other side.” As she turned back to the table, Lis noticed Nik’s impressed glance, then wondered if he would ever go through with his threats of revenge. He’d hurt a lot if he did. 

Caroline was acting as though Niik’s approval meant nothing to her. But it was still an act. A good act, yes, but Annalise watched the slight straightening of the girl’s shoulders, and her cheeks tighten from holding back a proud smile as she continued as if she was unbothered. “And with the magic of the internet, Elena sent over these.” 

Caroline picked up a pile of large photos on the table revealing some beautiful ink on what she presumed were Jeremy’s biceps. “So now all we have to do is cryptex away. We don’t even need you, if I’m being honest.” 

“Seems as though you’ve got it all figured out, love.” Nik smirked, clearly entertained at how Caroline was thinking it was going to be that easy. “Right, well. Might I suggest using the magic of the internet to purchase an Aramaic-to-English dictionary from your nearest retailer.” 

Tyler looked confused as Lis let out an amused huff. “What’s Aramaic?” 

“It’s a dead language. It hasn’t been used since, like, biblical times.” Caroline frowned.

Nik smirked wider. “Qetsiyah’s native tongue, I’m guessing. You know, even if you had the best dictionary in the world, it could take days to translate.” He sat down smugly. “Even Lis’s wonderful witchy website would take at least a day. Unfortunately I don’t believe your friends don’t have that luxury.” 

Tyler looked confused. “Wait, you have a witch website that translates dead languages?” 

Lis shrugged lightly, sucking in air through her teeth. “Yeah, well. Ancient spells and all that. But Nik’s right; our Aramaic database isn’t nearly as well developed as the others are.” 

“Pity, isn’t it?” Nik sat down next to Annalise smugly. “In bas so-teen-too ara-ma-eet.” 

Annalise shot Nik an impressed look – she didn’t know exactly what he said, but she  _ had  _ heard what Aramaic sounded like in her studies – Caroline looked like she thought Nik suffered a small stroke. “What does that even mean?” 

He grinned widely. “’If only you spoke Aramaic.’”

-

Lis was sitting cross-legged on the coffee table, boredly leaning her head in the palms of her hands as Caroline and Tyler studied the pictures of Jeremy closer. Nik was throwing a ball up in the air, repeatedly, pacing the length of the study. He had stubbornly refused to help afterwards, saying that he’d already handed them the sword out of his own volition. Lis almost wanted him to act out, anything to distract her from the fact that her search for resurrection spells weren’t yielding any results.

Caroline and Tyler were hunched over the laptop, the photos, and Aramaic translations talking to each other in confusion. This had been lagging on for nearly an hour – their struggling was starting to get kinda sad at this point. 

Caroline sat back suddenly. “Okay, this is it. We’ve translated all the symbols on the tattoo. ‘Passage inside…requires a young senator, and a pretty flower.’” 

Lis blinked at her slowly, greatly unimpressed as Caroline threw the papers away in irritation. “Okay, none of this makes sense!”

Nik walked over, closer to the pair of teens, speaking the Aramaic phrase fluently again, before translating it to English for their convenience. “Requires a powerful witch, and a hunter in full bloom.” He never missed the opportunity to brag. 

“What are you doing now?” Tyler looked confused as to why Nik was helping them. “What do you want?” 

“I don’t need to tell you my reasons.” He gestured to Caroline. “Bring my sword over here.” 

Caroline warily brought the sword closer to Nik, presenting him with the hilt – he reached over, pulling it closer to fully decipher the cryptex. Lis frowned, trying to figure out why he was helping them, while listening to the translation half-heartedly. “Silas rests on the far side, the means of his destruction at hand.”

Lis frowned, standing up. “Shane told K-” 

She paused clearing her throat, ignoring Nik’s brief concerned glance directed at her. “Shane told us under the effects of the truth spell that  _ he-  _ I’m guessing Silas, was holding the cure in his hands – I guess these translations are literal.” 

“Perfect.” Nik nodded slightly before narrowing his gaze at the picture of Jeremy’s tattoo he picked up, then turning back to Caroline. “Turn the cryptex to the right.” She obliged until Nik told her to stop, as even Tyler joined them curiously. “The top of the hilt reveals a nautical map. Turn it to the left.” As Caroline turned the cryptex once more, Nik frowned at the message it revealed. “There’s something else…” 

He proceeded to mutter the sentence out-loud to himself in Aramaic – Caroline looked frustrated. “What does it mean?” Nik just smiled at her widely, clearly revelling in the secret that he now held. 

“Klaus, what does it  _ mean? _ ”

“It’s nothing.” He smiled innocently. “I think it’s time you called my sister with the information about the map. This is a matter of urgency, love.” Caroline studied him with a scowl clearly on her face before sighing, visibly giving up and grabbing her phone off the table behind her. 

Annalise frowned. Nik was being suspicious as hell, but if Caroline hadn’t caught on to it, that was her own damn fault. She sat up straighter, intrigued. Curiosity was eating Annalise up on the inside, but she had to trust that Nik knew what he was doing. Almost as if he read her mind, he gave her a singular solemn nod. 

Caroline had dialled Rebekah’s number and put it on speaker. “Hey it’s Caroline. We have the translation of the tattoo. We’re emailing you pictures of the map and instructions right now.” 

Tyler nodded, fiddling on the laptop, before nodding to Caroline in confirmation.

Rebekah’s voice drifted from the phone a couple seconds later. “Got it, thanks.” 

Nik chose to speak up smugly. “Actually, it was me.” 

“Nik, you helped?”

“You sound so surprised, little sister.” Nik voiced Annalise’s thoughts. 

Rebekah sounded annoyed. “Shouldn’t I be? I mean you don’t want me to be human. You don’t want any of us to be human. Why would you help us find the cure?” 

Nik frowned at the floor. “Maybe I finally realised the longer I stand in the way of what you want, the longer you’ll continue to hate me. Lissie was right, we should be working together for this. Perhaps I want my sister to finally know happiness.” 

Rebekah sounded wary. “Lissie went behind my back and tried to help Kol. And you…fool me once, shame on you; fool me a hundred times…” 

Lis looked away, finding it harder to breathe suddenly -  _ remembering pain and “Lissa?”- _ , Nik answered for her. “You know, she wouldn’t, sister. Why would Lissie warn us if she was? No, I promise. No more fooling. No more games. I hope you get to live, and die, as you wish.” 

Rebekah sighed. “So do I.” 

Nik leaned closer as if preparing to say something else. “There is one more thing, Rebekah.” Lis frowned, ‘ _ What was he doing now?’ _

He proceeded to speak rapidly, “There is only one dose of the cure, you need to find it first and take it, it’s the only way you’ll-” Tyler and Caroline panicked and rushed to end the call, but Nik’s deed had already been done. 

He smiled at the pair dangerously. “So, one dose. I forget, Tyler. What were you saying about cramming it down my throat, deciding how to kill me?” 

Tyler’s face lost all it’s blood, he grew horrified. “You’re gonna kill me.” His voice was breathless with fear. Caroline grew horrified too as Nik continued darkly. 

“You’ve been gloating over my brother’s  _ death  _ for the past two days; you were the reason my hybrids betrayed me _.”  _ Nik stalked towards Tyler with all the elegance of an apex predator.

__

Tyler stumbled back in fear, sharing a horrified glance with Caroline, then vamp-sped out of the house. 

Annalise ignored Tyler’s panicked exit and Caroline standing frozen, suitably fear-struck; instead focusing her blank gaze on Nik. Her brow deepened looking at his self-satisfied grin. “I see your pride won out.” 

Apparently their earlier conversation about lying in wait and  _ not  _ inviting trouble seemed to have already passed his mind. 

His sharp smile stretched threateningly as he made himself comfortable in his chair, leaning back. “It seems I’ll always have you to be my voice of reason, Lissie. That is after all, what you said last night.” 

A bone-deep weariness sunk onto her shoulders as she rubbed at her eyes tiredly. “That’s not what I meant,  _ dick,  _ and you know it.  _ Don’t-” _

“You can’t kill Tyler.” Caroline spoke up weakly, having finally found her voice. “You can’t.” 

“Not only can I, love, it’s a matter of principle. I have a reputation to uphold.” His eyes glinted wickedly. “Moreover, I want to. Let’s see if I can start where Lissie so rudely cut me off - at dear Mama Lockwood.” 

Annalise pursed her lips at him, but stayed silent. This wasn’t the time to voice her disagreements. Doing so in front of Caroline would only serve to undermine him...and usually she could care less - but they had just killed his  _ family _ \- defending them against the repercussions of their decisions and  _ horrible  _ actions didn’t feel right anymore. They needed to know that there’d be consequences. 

Else they might do it again. 

Caroline had moved on to bargaining. “I’m not asking you to forgive him. All I’m asking is that you let him, his family, live; somewhere far from here.” 

Nik’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “So he gets to live a happy life after he turned my hybrids against me, after he tried to kill me, after he stated it his life’s mission to find the cure so he could  _ use it against me-” _

Caroline crossed her arms defensively. “We  _ all  _ want the cure.” 

Nik paused, smirking. “Do we?” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you?” 

Caroline visibly shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. There’s only one, so it’s not like I’m gonna get it anyway.” 

Annalise felt like she was intruding as Nik softened towards the young vampire. “But if you could, you wouldn’t, would you?” Caroline remained silent; but it was clear to everyone what her silence meant. “You prefer who you are now to the girl you once were. You like being strong, ageless, fearless.” Nik stepped as closer to Caroline, gaze burning into her. “We’re the same, Caroline.” 

It seemed as if Caroline had found common ground with Nik – she straightened immediately, grasping at it. “Then  _ show  _ me. You know how much I love Tyler. You can see how scared I am to lose him. If you and I are so similar, then show me your compassion. Show him the mercy I would show you.” 

Annalise watched, concerned now, as Nik chuckled to himself humourlessly. “Mercy? Like the mercy your friends showed my brother?” Nik turned away from Caroline and walked a few steps before he turned back slightly. Annalise looked away, swallowing back the lump in her throat. “Tell him to leave immediately. And tell him to run and hide in a place I will never find him.” 

“Of course.” Hope had blossomed across Caroline’s face in the form of a smile as Nik settled in his armchair, but Annalise remained unmoving. It wasn’t like Nik to give up this easily. He  _ shouldn’t  _ give up that easily. She was proved right as he spoke up once more from the armchair. 

“Tell him that this is a mercy I extend for your sake; that I will give him a head start before I  _ kill _ him.” 

Caroline’s face fell in fear before she turned away to leave. 

-

Annalise and Nik stewed in contemplative silence for a while. She wasn’t...glad, but a vindictive streak in her flared when she had seen the two teens run in fear of Nik’s hanging threat. Despite that, however, Tyler didn’t deserve to outright die at Nik’s hands– she figured she would cross that bridge when they got to it. 

It was getting dark now, the sun had dived under the horizon, and the stars blinked at her from her place at the large window, casting her in a soft glow. The moon was hidden behind a couple clouds, but not as bright as it once was when she had been practicing magic again with Ko…Kol. 

_ Fuck.  _ Her magic rose in response to her sense of loss. Inhaling sharply, she tried to calm it to the best of her ability as her friend had once taught her to. 

This was like Mindy, but exponentially worse _.  _ it felt like someone was digging deep into her chest and tossing pieces of her away until emptiness festered where that feeling of happiness and warmth should be.

Kol was special to her, meant something to her in a way that Lis couldn’t quite put a finger on yet; that much Lis could admit to herself. She had let him down when he had remained by her side, supporting her, laughing with her. Well,  _ at  _ her, most of the time – but she didn’t mind. At all. 

Her gaze drifted to the once fondly dubbed coffin room - it housed Kol once more, but more specifically, his ashes. She remembered going back to the house that night, before their captors had even realised they had broken free. She remembered walking over to where his burnt body lay undisturbed. 

She had whispered,  _ “Colligre mundi.”  _

The body had disappeared. The urn she was holding had suddenly felt heavy with the presence of ash and the immeasurable weight of something else. Annalise shut the lid with shaking hands and stood unsteadily to join Nik who’d been standing on the front porch outside. 

He had looked at her as she stepped through the doorway – she wasn’t sure if the grief in his eyes was reflected in hers, or if he’d seen how her eyes were swollen and rimmed with red. He had wordlessly held his hand out, before nodding. Lis managed a weak nod as well, before teleporting them both to the empty dust-collecting mansion. 

Now in death her friend was placed near his empty coffin in which he had once been temporarily undead. They were hurting, and while Nik was dealing with it in his own strange way, Lis was struggling. She wasn’t used to losing people.

She just didn’t know where to start. 

-

She was curled up in front of the balcony with a cooled cup of hot chocolate – her skin still hurt from where she had rubbed it raw, trying to get rid of the phantom feel of her blood from her healed wounds, and his that had stained her hands. The numbing breeze was refreshing. 

The wind felt coldest on her face – catching on the warm tear tracks trailing down her cheeks. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine Kol sitting next to her silently. He was always strangely silent around her - when he wasn’t making fun of her, that is. 

Annalise remained unmoving as she someone else joined her on the small outside bench; the creak of the wood and a small sigh broke the otherwise undisturbed twilight.

“It was nice, what you did for Rebekah today.” Her voice rang strangely loud in the silence despite her subdued tone. “After our conversation when I got back from Australia – I thought we’d all figure this all out together, that everything would be fine...But now Kol’s dead and Rebekah’s alone on that island where I’m _ supposed  _ to be, and-”

Nik put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in for a tight side hug as she let her head rest tiredly on his shoulder. “I – I just keep replaying that night, over and over again. Wondering what would’ve changed if I never sent him there, if I’d taken the stake back from him instead of letting him hold on to it for his peace of mind, if I focused more on helping  _ him than helping the stupid flippin Gilberts _ .”

Nik just sighed, tightening his arm around her. He let his head rest on hers lightly. “Let’s not dwell on the past – be assured; they  _ will all  _ pay.” 

Lis sniffled, letting out a wet chuckle. “I know that’s like, your way of comforting me, but please, can we talk about something other than killing-” 

Her voice suddenly cut itself off with a low groan. Nik’s head lifted as he turned to face her fully in concern. “Lissie? What’s wrong?”

Annalise gasped for air once she recovered from that wrenching twist of magic in nature - reacting in an almost familiar way to an energy long dormant, as if greeting an old friend. She swallowed down the bitter taste of fear in her mouth as she straightened a small amount. 

Nik’s eyes narrowed, studying her as Lis went back to sipping at her cold hot chocolate blankly as if nothing had happened. Maybe if she didn’t address it, it would all magically go away. 

“Annalise. What’s  _ wrong? _ ” 

This was all too much. She felt as though she was drowning. The use of her full name drew her attention to him, her eyes blinked slowly, then shrugged emotionlessly. 

“Something shifted in the magic – something big, something wrong. Something...familiar.” 

Her hands tightened around her mug until her knuckles whitened. “I think Silas is coming.” 

-

Annalise didn’t leave the comfort of her bed for practically the entire day – it felt strange watching the day unfold, then watching the sky darken once more - for the first time in a while, she felt removed from nature, like something was stopping her from feeling all the magic around her, like something was keeping her emotions away. Something in her told her that was her own doing. Annalise couldn’t bring herself to care. 

She had stewed in her thoughts for the entire day, her grief. But it hadn’t made her feel better - if anything it made it more real, and that was worse. Time was moving by too fast, and it was hard to accept that Kol’s death had been nearly two days ago instead of believing that he was going to just walk into her room and plant himself on the foot of her bed with that annoying smirk. 

God, she missed him. 

Annalise hadn’t realised, but despite knowing him for such a short amount of time - he had been the type of person to leave a lasting impact on people’s lives. If they survived, that is. She had almost laughed at the morbid thought. Something told her that didn’t occur often. This was probably why her witch forum wasn’t yielding any great results. 

When the thousands of vampires from Kol’s sireline fell dead of unexplained circumstances, it had sparked panic world-wide, but now, more than ever, the witches were being secretive about any and all necromancy spells and reincarnation incantations. There were a multitude of loved ones looking to bring people back; and some had traced it back to Kol’s lineage. 

And so, the witches were resisting. Sure, apparently Kol had once been an ally out of necessity to some covens around the world but the witches needed to protect the balance - and bringing back a once maniacal vampire, the worst of his kind certainly wasn’t on their list of priorities. 

So yes, she had stewed in her feelings the entire day, wondering if the oath to herself promising to get him back would even be achievable. It certainly wasn’t looking like it. And she hated herself all the more for it. 

Her phone vibrated on her bedside table, interrupting her stifling silence. It had been buzzing the entire day. 

Lis didn’t care – she knew it wasn’t Nik. He had stopped by her room on his way out, informing her that Hayley had reached out about information on Katherine - that it had been the ruthless doppelganger that had employed her services on helping Shane. He was out looking for answers. 

Her phone buzzed repeatedly again – she sighed before reaching for it, pausing as she read the caller ID. 

Her finger clicked accept after a long moment. 

“Tinkerbell? We need your help.” Damon’s voice was heavy – Annalise frowned to herself, gripping at her sheets tightre and asking herself why that detail mattered. At her cold silence, Damon sighed. “Look, I know. We hurt you. We killed your friend.” Lis sat up, seized by sudden anger but stilled at Damon’s next words. “We’re sorry, okay? But we are so far out of our depth, it’s not even funny. Silas is awake, and missing, the bitch Katherine’s escaped with the cure, and Shane got into Bonnie’s head and she’s trying to convince us to mass murder to raise- to raise Jeremy because he died.” Her heart stuttered. 

Annalise didn’t know how to feel – the boy had stepped,  _ stepped  _ on the stake that had engulfed her friend in fire – but the hurt in her heart didn’t alleviate, if anything, it worsened. He had been just a  _ boy.  _

Shit. She didn’t want to help- she didn’t. She shouldn’t. 

Annalise told herself she needed answers about Silas - wanted to vindictively yell in their faces that Kol had been right - that Elena would never have lost Jeremy had they  _ fucking  _ listened. 

She made her choice, dully. 

Annalise thought Damon looked far too relieved to see her when she teleported to him, but as he took in her appearance – large comfortable sweats, a hoodie and swollen face set in a hard, burning glare – it fell to one of slight pity. 

She spoke lowly, in a croaky and unused voice. “Tell me about Silas.” 

Damon gestured in the direction of the house; Annalise hesitated before complying slowly. 

The door was still detached from Lis’ magic, leaning against a wall along with broken picture frames. She felt dread threaten to drown her as she followed Damon on autopilot, wincing as she heard the phantom sounds of rushed footsteps, his tortured screams. Her breathing deepened as her head remained locked looking straight at Damon’s back, even as shadows of the past moving in her peripherals. 

Elena, Bonnie, Caroline and Matt sat at the kitchen table, their arguments halting as she stepped into the room hesitantly. Stefan was standing beside Elena, looking at her in that pitiful manner. 

She put her weight unconsciously on her front leg, ready to turn and flee the oppressive silence and the stares drilling into her. 

Elena, surprisingly, stood up first, with a strangely hopeful look on her face, stepping forwards and grasping at Lis’s hands. Annalise felt bile rise in her throat. These hands had thrown her, stabbed her. 

She held back a wince. 

“You’re here! I  _ can’t  _ thank you enough for coming to heal Jeremy, even after what we did to you – I-I was _ wrong, okay?  _ You’re not a bad person. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.” 

Lis watched the girl act unhinged and her heart blistered, but her eyes remained hard, mind burdened by the memory of a burning friend just to her left. Her lips twisted into a scowl as she jerked out of the girl’s grip. 

“Heal him? I was under the impression Jeremy passed.” 

Elena shook her head quickly in denial. 

“No, no of course not – you’re here now, you can heal him like you healed Ric. With the spell that makes you glow. With that magic, remember?” Annalise flicked her gaze to Damon as he leaned against the wall. He shook his head at her slightly. Fuck him for bringing her into this shit. Maybe he was hoping she’d help them again out of pity for Elena. 

Losing a brother was...hard. Probably. She’d never know. She would know how it felt to lose a friend, though, and she  _ hated  _ the fact that Elena had been the one to teach her what true loss feels like.  _ Loathed  _ it. 

Which is why Damon might have been right - seeing Elena like this, like her - did make her feel pity, but it wasn’t enough to forgive the girl. No - she still felt empty. This could have  _ all  _ been avoided. 

Annalise crossed her arms, slightly shaking her head. Her voice was hard and monotone. “Dead is  _ dead _ , Elena. You should know.” As Elena’s face fell devastatingly, she moved on. Caring about the girl’s feelings was a luxury she could no longer be bothered with. “Damon said Bonnie had a plan to bring him back, fill me in on it.” 

Elena nodded before sitting back down a bit less enthusiastically. She didn’t miss Caroline and Matt exchanged a worried glance as Bonnie took her cue to start explaining her theory to Annalise. 

She understood why a couple minutes later. 

Annalise tiredly rubbed at her forehead trying to keep away her impending migraine. This was worse than she thought. She may not have a choice in helping the young witch. 

“Let me get this straight. Shane told you to complete the Expression Triangle for Silas so you can bring Jeremy back to life.” Bonnie nodded impatiently. Annalise threw an  _ are-you-kidding-me  _ glance to Damon, who just shrugged, before she turned back to Bonnie. “You do realise this means you’re okay with… _ killing _ …people? I mean sure, the Gilberts did just complete a mass genocide of an entire fucking sire line, but I thought you’d be less okay with this.” 

Elena looked to the side, not meeting her eyes as Damon gave her a berating glare. She didn’t bat an eye; how on earth was he going to protect Elena from the truth that she wasn’t as innocent as she thought she was?

Bonnie levelled her with a tired look. “As I explained – they’ll all be brought back to life when I drop the veil separating us from the Other Side.”

She raised a tired eyebrow. “And...you’re okay with unleashing literally two millennia worth of supernatural creatures into the living world? Aren’t witches supposed to keep a balance?” 

Caroline threw her hands up in the air. “Exactly, Bonnie! You’re  _ not  _ killing 12 people, and you sure as hell can’t raise every monster back to life!” 

Matt just looked sad. “I think she knows that guys.” That fact seemed to unsettle him a great deal.

Bonnie looked at her friends, practically willing them to understand. “I can do it. I have the power – we can bring  _ everyone  _ back – Jeremy, Alaric, Vicki-”

Annalise was shaking her head. “No, no  _ Bonnie, you can’t.  _ I told you, you think you have control, but  _ you don’t.  _ Expression overwhelms people, it  _ kills them.”  _ Everyone quieted down from speaking over each other at the intensity of her voice. “My parents died using this dark magic. I  _ can’t  _ watch another person succumb to it _. _ I refuse. _ ”  _ Her hoarse confession lingered in the empty silence. 

Bonnie softened before shaking her head once more. “I can help you get  _ Kol back.”  _

There was a pause, before a sudden eruption of voices filled the crowded kitchen space. Damon was flat-out refusing, Caroline was yelling, Matt was trying to talk sense into Bonnie, and Stefan was helping him, but Bonnie was yelling right back. Only Elena was silent, staring off into the distance in her own little world, and the pressure building inside Annalise’s head just  _ hurt -  _ “Everyone,  _ please,  _ shut the  _ fuck up _ !”

They looked to her once more. Annalise blinked her moist eyes, narrowing them into a glare. Her voice broke. “That  _ wasn’t fair,  _ don’t you  _ dare  _ try to use him to get what you want. I can’t help him right now, but let me  _ help you.  _ You’re going to  _ die  _ if you do this; the power – it’ll kill you.” 

Bonnie stood slowly, approaching her. “Don’t you see? Even now, all you’re trying to do is  _ help  _ us, when we’ve hurt you  _ so much.  _ That’s why Shane told me to ask for you. He said that you’d help me – please. If you think I’m going to die,  _ pull me back.  _ Make sure I don’t. I  _ need _ you for this.” 

Annalise shook her head tiredly, pulling her hands out of Bonnie’s. “No, screw you. Do you think I’m that  _ stupid  _ to not realise when you’re obviously trying to manipulate me?” 

Bonnie looked strangely intense – she was looking at her the same way that Shane once had. “It doesn’t matter if you know I’m manipulating you, because you’re  _ all-loving.  _ You can’t stand the thought of letting me go off to die without helping me. You  _ will _ help me _.”  _

__

Annalise stepped back slightly, a brief look around the room revealed that everyone else also looked adequately freaked out by Bonnie’s statement – even Elena. It suddenly seemed as though she was missing something huge, and important. 

The phone rang, jolting them from their uneasy silence. 

Lis frowned uneasily. “Well that’s my cue to leave.” 

By the time Bonnie lunged forward to grasp desperately at the empty space she occupied, Annalise was already in her bed, head in her hands. 

  
When had everything gotten so  _ fucking  _ complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support my story is receiving, I love you all!


	31. Because the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiyo, here with the weekly update again!   
> Warning: Strong Language, Canon-Typical violence

The next morning Nik found Annalise curled up in her armchair working in front of the fireplace of her favourite study. She hadn’t slept well; that much would’ve been obvious going by her darkened under-eyes and the way she was clutching at her fourth cup of coffee in hopes of staying awake as she tiredly perused her research and notes from some online grimoires she had limited access to. 

Annalise still smiled widely at him, pretending she didn’t notice Nik see through her right away – his eyes softened sympathetically as they met her own bleary glance. He made his way over to the coffee table she had spread out her research on, gently tousling her hair. 

“What’s got you busy, Lissie?” 

Lis stifled a yawn into her shoulder, half-heartedly grinning more genuinely at his little attempt to make her feel better, before tilting her screen to show off her highlighted notes on the laptop. 

He leaned down to glance over her notes as she started speaking. 

“So, quick update. Rebekah’s still dodging my calls,” Lis sighed in exhaustion, rubbing the bridge of her nose from under her glasses, “and Bonnie’s gone round the twist – she wants to complete the Expression Triangle by orchestrating another massacre so she has enough power to completely drop the veil – all so she could raise Jeremy again. Damon also mentioned last night that Katherine’s now got her hands on the cure, so look out for that.” 

Nik’s face soured, but he dipped his head with his lips pressing into a displeased line. “The warning’s much appreciated, Lissie.” His eyes flicked to the study’s doorway. “Speaking of Katherine, I hope you’re okay with a boarder for the time being – turns out she’s being hunted by the she-devil.” 

Lis followed his gaze to the open door of the study where Hayley had appeared, walking into the study sheepishly. 

Immediately, Annalise grew rigid. 

A hesitant smile tugged at Hayley’s lips in her effort to break the sudden tension. “Well, you look horrible.” 

“It’s not like you look so hot yourself either, mate.” Lis seethed, glaring daggers at her. “Get the fuck out.”

“What?” Hayley’s unsure grin dropped as Annalise’s glower worsened.

“You planned the murder of my friends. Manipulated Nik into killing them. Fucking  _ leave.”  _

Nik placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, wordlessly telling her to calm down. She looked at him incredulously. How the fuck was he  _ okay  _ with any of this?

“Katherine employed Hayley here to do her dirty work. We can use her to  _ find _ Katherine, especially now she has the cure.” 

Right. Priorities. “You worked for Katherine? Willingly?” Annalise’s glare didn’t lift as she turned to the werewolf still standing awkwardly in front of them. “I call bull. What did she have over you?” 

“Information about my family. I haven’t found them yet, she turned out to be a dead-end.” Hayley rubbed at her shoulder uncomfortably. “For what it’s worth, I  _ am  _ sorry.”

Lis narrowed her eyes further before glancing up at Nik before looking back at their guest. The werewolf seemed sincere, but then again, Lis _ had _ misjudged people before. But…Nik seemed to think this was the right thing to do, and she trusted his judgement, or rather, his ability to deal with the outcome. That helped her decision. Annalise also grudgingly noticed the fear in Hayley’s eyes, and the way in which the werewolf straightened the longer her studying gaze lingered. It was as if she had braced herself for Annalise’s refusal, and put on a strong front. 

Lis deflated. “Right well, don’t pull that crap again. If you do, Katherine won’t be the one you need to worry about.” Hayley blinked in surprise as her defensive posture faltered, but Annalise continued distractedly, having turned back to her notes. “I’m sure you’re hungry so help yourself to my mortal snacks in the kitchen – I’ve got chocolate milk in the fridge - that stays untouched.” 

Hayley nodded thankfully before shooting a lingering glance at Nik, paired with a pleased smile as she took his nod as a cue to leave. Wanting to turn back to her notes to explain her meagre findings to Nik, she looked up, only to see his gaze following Hayley’s hips swaying out of the room.

She cleared her throat, cocking a judgmental eyebrow at Nik, unable to help the teasing grin crawling up her face. 

He smirked at her, dismissing the exchange with a smug shrug. Annalise just rolled her eyes before turning back to what she was going to show him. 

“So… more thing.” She paused hesitantly. “I told Bonnie that channelling that much magic to drop the veil’s gonna kill her, like it did my parents, but she said she wouldn’t die if I helped. Apparently, Shane told her I’d help.” She paused, shaking her head. “I wasn’t going to, because even being around dark magic affects me, a lot, and saying I’d help her help Silas seems like the complete opposite of what Kol wanted, but…” Annalise trailed off as she chewed the inside of her cheek unsurely.

Nik prompted her gently. “But what, Lissie?” 

“But…if I help her,” Annalise pretended that her voice didn’t waver. “I might be able stop the veil coming down completely, control the influx of ghosts - I could help filter out Bonnie’s loved ones…I could get Kol back.” 

She didn’t miss Nik’s knuckles whitening as they gripped the back of the armchair tighter – his lips pressed into a flat line as he thought the choice over. Annalise tapped out a staccato beat anxiously on the armrest as she waited for Nik to fill in the stifling silence.

He finally broke it after what seemed like several minutes, frowning. “What do you mean dark magic affects you? I’ve seen you feeling uneasy when you experience it, I’ve seen you nearly collapse in discomfort, not pain. Is that what you will endure? Just…discomfort?” 

Lis exhaled slowly. “Well…no.” She shrugged, looking away as she absently rubbed her shoulder. “I think that I react that way when it’s just around me, but a couple days ago when Ko-” her throat locked, and she took a deep breath to continue. “Um…when we confronted Bonnie, her magic flowed through me _directly_ when I touched her. It hurt at the start, like all my nerves were on fire, but after it burned through me I felt a strange type of empty – like all my pain was washed away. After that I just had all this energy, and it was volatile. I got _so angry_ at the smallest things because it was it was ruining my buzz, Kol-” 

Annalise cleared her throat. “Kol calmed me down, stayed with me, until I was feeling normal again. I can do it again. It’s a small price to pay to get him back.” 

Nik nodded, green eyes narrowing, taking this in stride and thinking for a moment longer. “Fine. Do what you think is best and let me know if this magic gets the better of you.” 

Annalise let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Her eyes were wide at his unexpectedly easy acceptance. “That’s it? You trust me enough to do that?” 

Nik just threw her a quick smirk with amused eyes in reply before straightening to walk away quickly in the direction of clanging pots in the kitchen. 

Huh. Okay. 

-

In a last-ditch effort to get ahead of the storm she felt brewing, Annalise found herself on the porch of a small, well-maintained house in the suburbs. Reaching out unsurely, she knocked on the front door. 

Heavy footsteps approached and the door was opened by a tall man, looking at her with a wary gaze. 

“Can I help you?” 

Annalise plastered a friendly smile on her face immediately. “Hi, yeah. I’m a friend of Bonnie’s, we have a project we’re working on together, is she in?” 

The man’s expression grew even more suspicious, a feat she would’ve normally considered impossible. He glared from under a heavyset frown. “And the truth this time?” 

Annalise blinked in surprise before realisation hit her. Her smile turned more awkward. “Oh, you know about the supernatural, of course you do – your daughter and wife were witches.” Looking at him sheepishly she extended her hand for him to shake. “I’m Annalise Caelis, Bonnie mentioned needing some help controlling her powers.” 

The man’s glare turned from blistering to considering before shaking her hand in a professional grip with an equally tight nod. “Rudy Hopkins, Mayor of Mystic Falls. I heard you helped Carol.” 

“Oh, uh…yeah,” Annalise’s stuttered. “How is she these days?” 

Rudy opened the door wider, letting her walk in. He seemed even more reassured at the fact that she didn’t encounter any difficulties crossing the threshold of the house despite the fact that he hadn’t vocalised his invitation. The mayor clearly had his guard right up, and honestly, she admired him for it. 

“Carol’s fine; she relocated to Atlanta on Tyler’s insistence.” Ah, yes – Nik was hunting Tyler. Good thing he had bigger things to worry about right now. 

Annalise paused, tilting her head as she heard subtle murmurs of a conversation in the next room. The voices seemed familiar, and one definitely belonged to Bonnie. “I’m sorry, do you have company? I could come some other time if it’s more convenient. I don’t wanna intrude.” 

“No. No, I feel better you’re here.” Rudy shook his head, his expression growing troubled as he closed the door behind her. “You heard of Atticus Shane? What do you think of him?” 

Lis shot him a confused glance. “Uh…creepily intense; wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Which to clarify, is practically nothing; I have no upper body strength.” 

Rudy’s lip twitched, but he nodded solemnly, agreeing. She had confirmed his suspicions then. “Good. He’s with her right now. Take care of her, please.” 

Annalise swallowed back her surprise at the weight of new obligation on her shoulders as she followed the mayor into his sitting room. It was overshadowed, however, by the feeling of wrongness at this bizarre situation.  From what she could put together from the phone calls that she’d overheard back when she was stuck at the Gilbert house, hadn’t Shane kinda…vanished? How did he end up back here? How did he get off the island? 

“Bonnie, you have a friend here to help you, Annalise?” Rudy announced her arrival to Bonnie and Shane sitting on two opposite couches, both facing each other. They seemed to be deep in conversation, but both whipped around to face her with varying expressions. Bonnie with a welcoming smile, but Shane…he wasn’t looking at her with the reverence he had before – no. 

As Annalise’s eyes met his, she was suddenly aware of the unnatural nature of magic he emitted; aware of the sharp, almost possessive glint in his eye. The feeling that she knew him…knew him as someone else sat uncomfortably at the back of her mind. On instinct, Annalise opened her senses to the magic surrounding her; watching his magic flare and interact with nature’s in a bone-deep familiarity, as if he was greeting an old friend. 

Annalise felt herself click into place, like a shifting puzzle; still incomplete, but one step closer to reaching the full picture. 

All this transpired in a matter of seconds as she locked her brown gaze with Shane’s own brown, but something told her those eyes were meant to be green; though the mischief she found within them was unexpectedly expected. 

Then, it was as though time snapped back to normal. She hadn’t even realised it had slowed, but Annalise stumbled, having lost her bearings. 

Shane was standing, smiling at Annalise like nothing had happened as he reached to steady her. 

She drew back away from him on instinct. 

“Annalise! Lovely to see you again.” Shane grasped her hand in a tight grip even as she tried to pull away, before turning to address Rudy with a bright grin. “Thanks, Mayor. We’ve got it from here.” 

Rudy passed her one last uncertain look before nodding, deciding to leave the trio in silence. 

Annalise almost didn’t notice him retreat, still standing unresponsively and unsteadily on her feet. She felt lost, but also found...but more than anything she felt confused. It was as though the ground had just tilted under her feet. 

Shane was still smiling at her as he led her to sit at Bonnie’s side before sinking into his own seat opposite them. Lis managed to focus on Shane’s pleased expression as he spoke. “Annalise. Nice to see you again.”

His smile sat unnaturally on the once flighty professor’s face in a collected manner, one that didn’t at all suit his once nervous and fiddly demeanour. 

This was wrong,  _ he  _ was wrong. Lis narrowed her eyes at him, studying him as he stared back at her with an equal interest, mixed in with a large amount of amusement. Trying to clear her mind, Annalise tried to focus on how Shane’s smirk had sharpened to a dangerous point, how his eyes drank her in almost as if he was in awe, but possessive all the same, and how more importantly he no longer carried the signature of a human, but instead, something older. Something tinged with a magic she hadn’t felt before. 

Lis managed to tear her eyes away from his to look to Bonnie, who was looking between the two of them attentively. She still carried the same unhinged energy she had displayed the night before in the Gilbert kitchen, but her expression was set seriously. Something was wrong.

She turned back to the abnormal professor, deciding to go with the truth. “You’re not Shane.” Her voice had a breathy quality to it, cautious and disbelieving. 

A loud, delighted chuckle escaped Shane as he leaned back, clapping his hands. “No, no I’m not. Clocked me the second you came in here, didn’t you? I wouldn’t have expected anything less from dear Gaia’s descendent. You have her eyes.” 

Lis’s lips thinned as her breath caught in her throat. Of course. The shift in the magic she felt a couple nights ago was eerily similar to what she felt now. 

“Silas.” 

Shane lifted his arms in the air grandly as if in introduction, and Annalise half expected Bonnie to scream, yell, go call her friends. Instead, Bonnie remained casually seated at her side, staring warily, but not surprised - Annalise regarded her with a guarded look. “You knew?” 

Silas chuckled. “Of course she did! I am nothing if not completely honest with my friends.” 

Annalise tilted her head, forehead creasing as she scrutinized him. “But I notice the rest of the Mystic Falls gang  _ aren’t  _ exactly running around like headless chickens because you’re awake.” 

“Well, that’s because Bonnie here, can be persuaded to be anything _but_ honest with her friends.”

At Silas’ smug quip, Bonnie looked towards him with something akin to anger, but answered Annalise’s unasked question. “He’s the only one that can help me,  _ us,  _ get our friends back. He’s coaching me through this. You can’t tell anyone either.”

Lis narrowed her eyes at Bonnie’s firm gaze for a moment, before nodding, leaning back to relax against the sofa. This  _ was  _ a viable option worth exploring, after all, that was why she had visited the Bennett residence in the first place. 

Plus now, she couldn’t in good conscience leave anyone in the same room as the dangerous immortal opposite them, still watching them raptly with a proud smirk. Not when she was responsible for the teen beside her. The teen who was practicing the same dark magic as her dead parents once did. Clenching her jaw, Annalise settled a challenging glare at Silas.

“Fine. I guess I’m chaperoning.” 

“So glad you changed your mind, Bonnie here was telling me you may need a little more convincing.” Silas clapped once more, cheerfully. “That’s settled then! Please, Bonnie, let’s get back to practicing. Lissie can watch. You prefer Lissie, right?” He shot her a quick wink before turning to Bonnie and continuing before Annalise had the chance to retort. 

Dropping his voice into a low timbre, and Annalise looked on with reluctant interest as Bonnie’s eyes fell shut slowly the more Silas talked. “Close your eyes, and concentrate. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” 

Bonnie’s chin dipped to her chest when he reached 1 as if in a trance, before she proceeded to breathe heavily and slowly, like she was doing some sort of meditation. 

Lis swallowed roughly at the sly grin that passed over Silas’s face. 

This felt like a deal with the devil. 

The air thickly permeated with the weight of dark magic, and all her better instincts were screaming at her to get the hell away. Her nails dug into the cushions under her as Silas shot her another smug glance. 

No. 

She wouldn’t let him win. Kol’s fear of him was nothing short of a bright red glaring flag telling her that he was about to wreak havoc on the world. Plus, if she was being honest with herself…this situation seemed eerily familiar and knowing what lay at the end of this path for Bonnie, she couldn’t in good conscience leave Bonnie alone here - even if her friends had done the unspeakable, and she had aided and abetted with the aftermath. 

As she watched the young witch open her eyes once more, glassy and uncomprehending of her surroundings; her mind solely focused on Silas’ slow droning voice, her resolve weakened. 

She couldn’t leave Bonnie alone in this, like she did her parents. 

Annalise couldn’t fail her too. 

-

The day moved slowly, sluggishly, but Lis had never felt so on edge before. So… _ different.  _

It was late evening now, and Annalise was restless. Her skin was buzzing with a sharp static, stretching at her skin uncomfortably. 

It made her uncomfortable...and angry. 

There was a sudden surge of dark magic, and instinctively Annalise’s hand clasped tightly onto Bonnie’s shoulder – draining the volatile excess. She winced as it flared past her tortured nerves, but welcomed the wave of nothing it left behind. Her head was cloudy and her thoughts turned both languid and feral, ready to bring out the worst in her.

She was, frankly put,  _ sick  _ of it – the initial pain that is. 

The emptiness and pure  _ fucking  _ relief she felt afterwards, was a reward of its own.

Silas regarded her with a tilting smirk and a hidden look in his eye, too complicated for Lis to bother deciphering in her current state. He had looked at her like that each and every time Bonnie had lost control, and Annalise was one more freaking curl of his lips away from blasting the immortal right out of the window behind him. 

Because that’s all he was; an immortal. And a psychic. It seemed his other magical witchy abilities were lost when he had downed the first big screw you to the natural process of…well, Nature. At least that meant Annalise also could hurt him without worrying about killing him like she does every single time she used her magic to attack someone. 

A sickeningly exciting feel of glee curled deep in her gut. There was a certain sense of freedom in that thought that pleased her, so she reciprocated his smirk back to him. It might have ended up being a touch too sharp and threatening going by the return of that look in his eye – but she was well past caring at this point. Bonnie’s excess made it difficult to give a damn. 

Maybe he was just enjoying her spiralling further and further away from her normalcy. Joke’s on him though. Sad thoughts were long gone, and her mind felt unburdened for the first time in a long time. 

She was enjoying it too. 

Bonnie had lost control multiple times already, knocking over lamps and messing with the lights, and even once nearly burning the house down by turning the large fireplace into a literal fire geyser. Thankfully Annalise was able to divert it right up through the chimney - but it certainly didn’t help that Lis had then been there to lay a supportive hand on the witch each time, letting the dark magic flow through her and back into nature. 

Her hand itched with her need to place it back on Bonnie once more, just for the reprieve that followed afterwards. There was a bitter taste in the back of her mouth, she  _ knew  _ this was wrong, but she couldn’t be bothered asking herself  _ why.  _

She had it under control, this was for Kol. This would get him back.

Kol. 

She shut her eyes and felt his phantom hands hold hers, show her the imprints her fingernails had made in her palms. A high school hallway in a memory too recent and too painful had never felt so simultaneously comfortable, and never had she longed to return to it like this. His confused dark stare turning understanding as his heavy frown lifted. Him drawing attention to the hurt the magic had wreaked on her. His thumb mindlessly brushing against her skin as his hands curled gently around her wrists. 

A familiar sting on the centre of her palm had her opening her eyes and seeing crescent fingernail indents. Not deep enough to break skin, but hard enough to agitate old wounds. If he was here…

She cut that thought process off with a sudden surge of anger. But he  _ wasn’t. He wasn’t here.  _ Annalise reached beside her again and drained the excess automatically as Bonnie struggled in controlling her frustration. Thoughts of Kol became more muted; bearable, but still remaining ever-present at the forefront of her mind. 

Her fidgeting grew more erratic, and Lis found herself rising abruptly to her feet, then pacing fast to and fro behind Bonnie. Her jarring movements drew the attention of both Silas and Bonnie, but the latter recovered from the distraction by almost immediately going back to chanting, while Silas’ eyes followed her movements closely even as he continued to speak in a low tone, assisting the young witch. 

Her urge to just  _ wrap  _ her hands around his neck, hear that satisfying  _ snap  _ made her fingers twitch. Blood thundered angrily in her ears, but she twisted on her feet immediately, facing the blank wall behind her. 

Leaning her forehead against the cool wall, she shut her eyes tight. This was  _ not right.  _ Fuck. 

She needed him here. 

Almost immediately, she felt as though she was thrown off balance once more. 

What on earth was  _ that? _

Something had shifted in nature, and it felt as though nature itself had expanded, or contracted – she wasn’t sure. Something  _ new  _ had happened. Silas had been something...old. 

Annalise felt this in her  _ bones.  _ She wondered if this was a good thing, or a bad thing, but right now, she had more important things she had to deal with. Her sudden focus on her magic had drawn her out of her aggressive and spiralling thoughts. It felt easier to concentrate past the dark energy buzz that had once jittered under her skin. 

A heavy exhale escaped her, when she opened her eyes again and lifted her forehead off the warmed wall, she turned to see Silas frowning at her. Had he felt the shift in nature too? Did he know what it was?

Before Annalise could think about what any of this meant, her phone rang. 

Nik. 

Silas’s hand raised to stop her but Annalise shook her head as the phone continued to ring. “He knows I’m searching for leads of my own – he’s gonna be more suspicious if I don’t answer it.” 

“Fine, but you’re not leaving this house, and you haven’t heard a word about SIlas. Oh, and put it on speaker. That’s the lingo you kids use now, right?” At Silas’ accepting nod even as he leaned forwards in anticipation, Annalise accepted the call. 

“Nik, hi. What’s up?” 

“Well, Hayley just left my protection in search of her long-lost family – seems she hails from a werewolf pack that occupied New Orleans while we were living there a couple centuries ago. I figured it all out just by recognising this birthmark on her back after a little wine and dine-”

“Jeez, Nik. Please. TMI. What did you call about?” She ignored Silas’s raised eyebrow.

“Oh, I was wondering if your search was coming up fruitful.”

Annalise bit her lip, looking at Bonnie’s pleading expression and Silas’ threatening one. “Uh…yeah. I’m just at Bonnie’s, helping her with her magic. Shane’s here with us. No sign of Silas yet though.” Silas nodded minutely – seems he approves.  She continued talking. “Oh, and uh…remember how I got sick the other night on the balcony? I was right.” Annalise paused,  _ willing  _ Nik to understand the message she was trying to convey. To remember them grieving on the balcony, to remember her realising Silas was free. 

Nik’s subtle sharp inhale was the answer she needed. Silas stood and walked closer suspiciously, but Annalise was already rushing through her excuse. “It  _ was _ food poisoning – Bonnie’s got some herbs that might help, but they have to work overnight, so I’m having a sleepover.” 

“Are…you sure?” Nik’s concerned tone prickled at her, and anger returned and simmered under her skin suddenly at his  _ doubt.  _

“Yeah, I’m  _ sure.  _ I’m not a goddamn child,  _ Nik _ . I’ve had it up to here with your  _ micromanaging  _ ways and your _ need  _ for total control of everything _.”  _ She hissed, feeling her heart start pounding faster in her ears.

“You’re angry.” His voice carried an undertone of understanding, before it got stern. “Fine. I trust you’ll be better soon, but I need you for tomorrow. Have an apology ready for when you see me next.” 

Annalise pocketed her phone angrily after he hung up, still scowling. Bonnie’s hand had gripped hers sympathetically in support, but instead of calming Lis, it had the opposite effect. Bonnie’s touch made her skin prickle, it felt like lightning was dancing painfully across her skin, teasing her with the promise of more dark magic. 

Yanking her hand out of Bonnie’s grip quickly, she scowled at the floor. She didn’t need Bonnie right now, she needed _... _ Kol, to feel normal again, to calm her down. 

Or at least  _ anyone  _ else who wasn’t jumped up on the addictive juice of two  _ fucking  _ massacres. 

Bonnie didn’t let the slight hurt remain on her face for long after Lis shook her off, smiling at her hesitantly. “Um, the girls had sleepovers here all the time – I’ll get something ready for you.” 

The guilt that crawled up her neck as Bonnie got up quickly and exited the room made Lis’ mouth twist in displeasure. Sleepovers...Bonnie still had sleepovers. She was a  _ fucking  _ kid. Her anger drowned all her emotions once more as she turned to a pleased Silas still watching her with something mixed in with fascination. 

“You hurt her; I  _ kill _ you.” 

Silas smirked, jutting his chin and shaking his head. “You won’t. I know you. You value  _ life  _ too much.” He chuckled getting to his feet. Lis mirrored him defensively. “No, you’ll hate yourself for not saving her from  _ being  _ hurt.” 

She swallowed back her impulse to  _ kill, maim, and tear his fucking head off – who the fuck does he think he is to threaten her?! _

But her anger still exploded outwards, and in an effort to reign it in, Annalise tried to focus it in a split second – the fireplace blazed white and her eyes bled into silver threateningly. 

Annalise glared at him, eyes sparking furiously as she growled. “You don’t know what I’m capable of.” 

Silas stalked closer in clear wonder, no fear present on his face as her eyes turned back into their boring brown. “Oh, certainly, I can’t  _ wait  _ to see what you’re capable of. I see little Caelesti’s work paid off.” 

He stood stiflingly closer to her; she whacked away the gentle hand that reached for her cheek. Silas grinned wide, shaking his hand out in mock pain. “Even now, you aren’t  _ letting go –  _ you’re keeping an awfully tight lid on your magic, and your anger. Think of how powerful you could be if you could just get past that little tiny hurdle of not wanting to  _ hurt  _ people. Even I can tell how it’s waging a war inside you.  _ Surrender to it.”  _

“Fuck off, weirdo.” Lis scowled moving away. Her hands were clenched, and she could swear she could feel them heat up to an unnatural degree.

Silas raised his arms placatingly, still grinning, before nodding at Rudy who she hadn’t even noticed had appeared behind her. 

“What’s going on here?” 

“Nothing, Mayor. Not. A. Thing. I believe it’s time for me to go, tell Bonnie I’ll meet her bright and early for our lesson tomorrow morning. See you there too, Lis.” Silas waved jauntily and walked right out the front door. 

Rudy glanced at Annalise before gesturing down to her hands. “Put that out before my house catches on fire.” 

Annalise startled, flapping her hands in the air to put out the flames licking up her wrist. 

As the fire extinguished, both Annalise and the mayor studied her undamaged hands, then exchanged a tired look. 

This was going to turn out unimaginably bad, wasn’t it?

-

The next day Bonnie and Annalise found themselves in the same exact places they had been the day before; on one sofa, facing Silas seated comfortably in the other. 

Annalise was jumpy again, evidenced by her bouncing knee and angry glare at Silas and at Bonnie,  _ who wasn’t trying hard enough to get the hang of it, and feeding her more of that delectable dark magic- _

Exhale. Inhale. 

Lis’ nerves were frayed in exhaustion as she reigned her anger in once more – Silas just smirked at her.  _ Dick.  _ He knew he was pushing her. 

She glared at him. He wanted violence? Wanted her to  _ ‘let go’ _ ? Fine. 

The loose hoodie ties on Shane’s sweatshirt wound around Silas’ neck in an instant, cutting his hypnotic droning to Bonnie off in a choked gasp. 

Lis smirked to herself. He was right.  _ That felt much better.  _

Bonnie looked at her unamused. “Annalise, stop choking Silas, please?” 

Annalise sighed and rolled her eyes before flicking her wrist at Silas, releasing him. “Fine, but only because you said please. Tell him to stop egging me on. He’s practically begging to get hurt.” 

Silas took in a few gasps before breathlessly chuckling, looking quite proud of himself. 

Bonnie rolled her eyes at him too. “Okay, look. I can’t do this anymore – I can see what it’s doing to Lis, this isn’t normal.”

“Bonnie, relax, okay? Trust me.” Silas was quick to hold out his hands in a calming gesture, hoping to reassure the young witch. 

“How can I trust you if you won’t show your real face?” Bonnie scowled at him in doubt, standing up from the sofa. “Don’t you think it’s a little creepy that you’re appearing as my dead professor?” 

Annalise crossed her arms, narrowing her glare at Silas. “It’s a  _ lot _ creepy, is what it is. I didn’t know Shane was dead.”

Silas stood up too, ignoring Lis in favour of focusing on Bonnie. “I told you that I’m Silas, I told you Shane died on the island. I’m trying to earn your trust.”

Lis chuckled darkly. “Those statements aren’t really helping your case either, mate.” 

Bonnie refused to even look at Silas turning away as she shook her head, but he was quick to turn her back, grabbing her shoulder. Annalise stood immediately, letting out a concentrated pulse of her excess dark magic at him, sending him careening back into the wall behind him with a thud. 

“You touch her again, you lose your arms.” As she stood, joining Bonnie’s side, Silas held his hands up in surrender, grin still planted firmly on his face. 

“All right, all right. Look. You invited me into your home, right? Why? Why’d you lie to your friends and tell them everything was fine? Why did you convince your dad that you needed Professor Shane’s help to control your magic? What am I doing here?” 

Bonnie shrugged off Silas’ statement, clearly flustered and curling in on herself unsurely. “You’re in my head. You’re making me see things.” 

Annalise scowled, immediately moving to put Bonnie behind her. Magic radiated off Annalise in fury as she hissed. “You’re  _ what?! Get the fuck out of her head or I’m gonna smoke your ass.”  _

Silas laughed lightly, holding his arms up in surrender. “Gaia, Gaia; I’m strong, but not strong enough to force your precious little witch to do anything she doesn’t already want to do. You care about Kol, right? And Jeremy?” 

Annalise still glared fire at Silas despite his attempts to calm her. “It’s Anna _ lise,  _ bitch.” 

Bonnie grabbed her hand though, and the familiar prickle of dark magic licked at her skin, distracting her as Bonnie stepped out from behind her to face Silas slowly. “Yeah, yeah we want out friends back.” 

Silas grinned sharply as Lis tried to collect herself from falling off the precipice of self-control. He prompted Bonnie to walk closer to him. “Yeah, you want your friends back. Bonnie, you were with Jeremy, you promised to protect him, but you failed. And now to bring him back…”

Bonnie let go of Lis’s hand, cutting the connection suddenly, Annalise bounced back to reality as Bonnie unsurely took Silas’s hand instead, finishing his sentence. “…We need to get rid of the Other Side.”

Silas nodded eagerly. “You are descended from Qetsiyah, one of the most powerful witches of all time – only you can complete the triangle. You are a necessary part of the spell to lower the veil.”

Annalise’s glower worsened. “She isn’t casting the spell if she doesn’t want to.” 

Bonnie nodded, still hesitant. “Completing the triangle means killing 12 people.” 

“Twelve people you can  _ bring back.”  _ Silas’s honeyed words had Bonnie’s resolve weakening once more. “Bonnie, you can do this – for Jeremy, for your grandmother; everyone you’ve lost. You’re the  _ only  _ one that can help them.” Bonnie visibly conceded, shoulders sagging. 

“She knows that,  _ dick.”  _ Annalise had enough. " I t doesn’t matter. The second she wants to stop this, she stops.”

Silas grinned wickedly. “You always did have such a protective spirit…” He moved to grip her shoulder tightly – she felt Shane’s nervously-bitten nails dig into her skin. “It will be good to have you on my side in the coming trials.” 

Annalise let out an incredulous chuckle. “What the fuck are you  _ on,  _ mate? I’m not on your side.” 

He shrugged, leading Bonnie back to the couch gently. “You are. You want to drop the veil to get your friend back – I want to drop the veil to get to Amara; we both want the same thing. Plus, your ancestor used to be best buds with me, ergo…we are on the same team.”

Annalise watched Bonnie turn back to practicing her magic silently. “I still don’t even know what you want me to do other than to help Bonnie control her Expression – she’s already getting better.” 

The air permeated with a thick heady atmosphere – almost sluggish in nature when it wasn’t  _ rushing  _ through her veins. Her anger grew at being in uncomfortably close proximity to dark magic without directly touching it – her fingers were starting to tap again. 

Silas shot an infuriatingly smug smile at her, as if he was amused at her struggle to maintain her poker face. “Good things come to those who wait, Annalise. I will let you know when the time is right.” 

“Stop playing  _ mind games, you turd –  _ if that stupid grin stays on your face for a second longer, I’m setting you on  _ fire _ .” Her eyes stung as warm brown grew into molten silver familiarly; Lis hadn’t even realised her hand inching towards Bonnie’s shoulder despite her being in control and not overflowing with excess – she stopped herself at the last second before she clenched her hands to her sides tightly once more. 

Silas watched her, still looking darkly…curious, and that other emotion she hadn’t quite yet managed to decipher. 

No. He wasn’t going to win. 

She wasn’t going to lose control. She was better than this. 

Lis exhaled slowly. She needed a break. 

“I’m gonna step outside for a bit.” Annalise got her phone out and scrolled through her messages before she smirked. Nik’s text was good news.

Silas glared at her, smirk finally melting into a frustrated scowl. “You’re not going anywhere – my presence here in Mystic Falls isn’t common information yet, I’d like to keep it that way. You can’t leave my side.” 

A rare sharp smirk dimpled Lis’s cheek. She gestured to her phone. “Too late now, bud. Apparently even the hopeless gang’s noticed all the blood missing from the nearby hospitals. They know you’re here. Leave less of a trail next time. This is all on you.”

“Fine.” Silas nodded to himself, frowning in displeasure. Annalise was grinning widely in contrast, happy that Silas wasn’t totally in control anymore. “I don’t need you right now, Bonnie’s got control. Go. Make sure they don’t get in our way tonight.” 

Annalise was already halfway to the door before she paused, turning slightly. “What’s happening tonight?” 

Shane’s eyes glittered dangerously. “ _ Go.”  _

Annalise rolled her eyes and located Nik’s signature, teleporting to it the next instant. 

-

She found herself in a dusty office room, overflowing with various old texts and some really questionable decorations like framed skins and occult signs littering the wooden walls. A wall of dusty filing cabinets also took up an entire wall closest to the door she appeared next to. Agitating the dust from the old cabinets upon her arrival made her cough slightly, but she made her way into the middle of the room where its occupants stood. Nik was surprisingly flanked by both Stefan and Caroline, all huddled around a large yellowed textbook with a map lying unfolded next to them. 

Nik glanced up at her, studying her closely - clearly looking for anything out of place. Being away from Bonnie’s magic took the edge off her frayed nerves, so she managed a weak grin at him, consciously avoiding Stefan’s usual guilty puppy stare. Last thing she needed was to have him be the brunt of her residual anger and prior trauma – she had control right now, he wasn’t worth losing it. She daintily ignored the fire pulsing white for a moment as she spoke. 

“Sorry for snapping at you Nik.” 

He smirked lightly, nodding. She had passed. “How are you? I thought Silas wouldn’t have let you go.” 

“He didn’t want to, so I dropped the fact that you guys knew that he was here anyway.” She shrugged before gesturing at the map and the occult book in front of them. “He only let me because he wanted me to distract you guys.” 

Nik smirked wider and rolled his eyes. “You’re nothing if not resourceful, Lissie.” He gestured to the two vampires beside him. “Like I said in my texts – these two figured out that Silas was guzzling blood, and I confirmed it based on that little hint you dropped yesterday. Right now we’re looking at the Expression Triangle spell – I was worried you wouldn’t be around to help.” 

“Yeah, look. That’s a fair assumption; I’m not gonna lie. I’m in a horrible mood.” Lis nodded, tiredly rubbing at her eyes from under her glasses before focusing on the page in front of her. “What’ve you found so far?” 

Caroline flashed her a tight smile, before pointing to one apex of a triangle illustrated in the aging text that had a circle with a cross within it, dividing it into perfect quarters. “Okay so, humans, right?” At Lis’s answering nod she continued. “That was the council fire.” She pointed to the next corner of the triangle holding another symbol, this time what looked like the letter U with another cross through its bottom, not unlike a pitchfork. “Demons – Klaus’s hybrid failure.” 

Nik and Annalise both looked insulted – Nik handled it calmer by casually deflecting. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a failure.” 

Annalise on the other hand, sent a glare heavy with contempt at Caroline’s direction, hissing. “ _Watch it._ ” 

The lights flickered overhead – Caroline looked startled at Annalise’s silver gaze, and how smoke rose from the heat of her fingertips that left gouging singe marks on the heavy oak table. 

The way Stefan moved himself in front of Caroline protectively angered her further – she was now aware of the smell of burnt wood and paper permeating the air. 

“Lissie?” 

Nik’s low voice right at her side had her blinking, and returning back to the present with a heavy exhale. He didn’t look at her differently, just with the slightest bit of concern mixed in with his normal stern expression. “You good?” 

Annalise dipped her head, crossing her arms and hiding her burnt fingertips behind her elbows. Stefan relaxed minutely, but Caroline was already pushing him out of the way, acting affronted. “What the hell was that?”

Lis shrugged, avoiding everyone’s eyes. “I’ve been helping Bonnie with her control most of the day yesterday and most of today. Turns out I have anger issues when I interact directly with her Expression. It isn’t savoury.” 

Stefan tilted his head, levelling her with a studying stare. “Yet you do it anyway.” 

Annalise didn’t even bother glancing at him, collecting herself instead before pointing back at the triangle Caroline was talking about. “Let’s just get back on track. Caroline was right – humans; done, hybrids; done.” She pointed to the symbol on the last apex of the triangle. Two crescents of the moon, one waxing, one waning - connected by yet another cross. “ _ This  _ is a symbol for servants of nature; witches.” 

She frowned at the book – Nik narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s wrong?” 

Annalise chewed on her lip in thought. “Silas wanted me to distract you guys tonight – it’s a full moon. What if he’s planning the last massacre? Bonnie’s certainly ready enough.” 

“Why didn’t you say this before?!” Caroline’s eyes widened as she scrambled to grab a large ruler and the large map spread out on the table – circling the points that the two massacres had already happened as Lis echoed in the background sounding annoyed. “Um…I kinda…did?” 

Caroline was talking over her in a panic. Stefan drew his phone out. “I’m gonna talk to Bonnie’s dad – get him to confirm whether she’s still at home.” He stepped back, bringing out his phone. 

Nik smirked at Annalise’s miffed expression before leaning closer to watch Caroline connect the two dots of the massacre, then measure the line, before drawing two lines from the points outwards, having them intersect, forming a triangle. “These are the sites of the two massacres; the farm, and the Lockwood cellar. According to the book, the Expression triangle’s equilateral, so that puts it…here.” She circled a point to the North of Mystic Falls,

Nik grabbed the ruler and the pen from Caroline, smirking at her, before drawing another two lines outwards from the original two points and having them intersect in the opposite direction; forming a reflected triangle to the South. “ _ Or  _ here. Someone skipped geometry.” 

Lis raised a brow watching Caroline blush and smile back at Nik. “You didn’t let me finish.” 

Their stares lingered on each other and Annalise was actually glad when Stefan re-joined the little group, sliding his phone back into his pocket. 

“She’s not at home.”

Annalise stiffened at the sudden influx of magic on the peripheries of her radar, and used the table to brace herself. She answered the trio’s curious looks. “You guys wouldn’t think that what feels like a coven of witches performing what feels like a huge spell linked together is connected to this, right? Or is it just a huge coincidence?” 

Caroline crossed her arms. “We can’t waste any time on this; we’ve gotta find Bonnie! We need to split up; go to each of the locations to see if she’s there.” 

Nik shook his head, gesturing at Caroline to quiet for a moment as he turned to Lis. “What direction is the magic coming from?” 

“That way.” Annalise pointed vaguely in the direction where the feel of traditional ancestral magic originated from as Nik looked closely at the map again. 

“The coven of convenient witches and Bonnie’s plan to sacrifice _witches_ might indeed be connected, Caroline. It is after all in the approximate direction of one on the points we’ve marked here. If we _are_ splitting up, I suggest that Lissie should go in the direction of the coven of witches for obvious reasons, and I’ll go with h-”

“ _ Me.”  _ Caroline put her hands on her hips, tone leaving no room for argument. “No _ way  _ am I letting Bonnie’s life hang in the hands of  _ you  _ and your witch with current anger issues.” 

Annalise raised a single brow at her. “So…you think sending me with your friend; who, might I add, has killed my friend, nearly killed  _ me,  _ and used my trauma following that incident to restrain me and let me be tortured ...would  _ help lessen  _ my anger?” 

Caroline glared at her. “Well, I’m certainly not sending him with the vampire that turned his humanity off, that’s for sure.” 

Annalise moved closer, anger rising again. “And you think  _ me,  _ currently having access to the powers that be, and craving another  _ hit  _ of dark magic is less of a threat,  _ how?”  _

“We’re wasting time, guys.” Stefan sighed, rubbing at his forehead tiredly. Lis nodded. 

“For once, we  _ agree.”  _ She sighed, pushing back the anger to the best of her ability, and hating everyone in the room more for it. “Fine, I’ll go with Stefan. I still it’s stupid to split up when this answer’s so obvious – but I’ll call you guys  _ when _ we find Bonnie. Stefan, since killing you would really inconvenience me more at this point, please get the hell outta my way if I look like I’m about to hurt someone. _ ”  _

She nodded at Nik before glancing at Stefan, teleporting the both of them closer to the point where the magic permeated from. She couldn’t pin-point an exact location, so she started picking her way through the woods wordlessly in the vague direction of the magic. 

Stefan followed silently until he received a phone call – Damon. Annalise was far enough ahead not to hear everything, but she heard more than she wanted. Stefan mentioned something about Katherine’s birthday, then something about Elena and New York before he ended the call after telling Damon to mind his own business and that he’d apologise in his own time. 

Stefan caught up with Annalise’s smaller strides relatively quickly. The doubtful looks he directed at her frequently got annoying quickly. She felt her temper rise once more as she growled. 

“Three options; Spit it out, stop looking at me every 5 seconds, or else I’ll fix permanent blinders on you like a horse.”

Stefan startled back slightly at being addressed at all, his brow raised, slightly amused. “That wasn’t-, I wasn’t-” He paused. “I’m sorry.”

Lis levelled him with an unimpressed glare before speeding up. Stefan matched her pace ridiculously easily, this just grated on her nerves more. 

“Damon was just catching me up on everything. Did you know Elena flipped her switch and burned her house down shortly after you left the other night?” Lis kept walking as if she didn’t falter, but Stefan obviously noticed it. He continued. “She’s out in New York with Damon – they ran in to Rebekah, and right now, they’re all trying to track Katherine down for the cure.” 

Annalise sniffed, increasing her pace and adjusting their direction slightly. “Good for them.”

Stefan was infuriatingly next to her once more. “We were never really on the same side, were we? When we first met, Klaus had just realised I betrayed him, then I turned my humanity off…” Stefan’s tone grew sombre as his gaze strayed remorsefully – “I fought Klaus at every turn, I let my anger, my hunger get the best of me when all you’ve ever done is try to help us. I put you second to getting the cure for Elena, I used your trauma to hold you when Nik told me to. We are responsible for your friend dying…I’m sorry.”

The anger inside Annalise was bubbling uncontrollably, staticky. The winds howled louder through the close-set trees of the woods as her hands clenched. “Thanks for running me through your greatest hits while I’m actively trying not to get angry,  _ mate.”  _

She felt a surge of anger rise, so she directed it quickly at the tree next to her. The trunk fractured with an echoing crack before small wildflowers grew on the broken bark beautifully. Stefan paused, entranced, but Annalise didn’t bother to stop. The witches’ magic had swelled – whatever it was doing, it was going to be big. She was annoyed she’d wasted even the smallest amount of her magic she could’ve used to help Bonnie instead. 

Stefan joined her, speaking lowly again. “You stopped me from killing those two innocent children on your first night here, you saved Elena more times than I can count, you’re helping Bonnie, you even saved Damon – I-I can’t ever. I-”

A forlorn chuckle escaped him; Lis glanced at him. He smiled slightly. “I was just thinking of what Damon just said. He said make up with your fellow history nerd. We need her. He doesn’t understand that no matter what I  _ say,  _ I can’t put into words-”

“Yeah, fine. I get it.” Annalise cut in – her voice was hard, but less angry than before. “You’re sorry.” She looked at him solemnly. “But know this – we are a ride or die kinda people, and we stop at  _ nothing _ to keep our loved ones safe. I’m not gonna fool myself into thinking that next time push comes to shove, you’ll hesitate in choosing Elena, your friends and family over us; my family, or  _ hell,  _ anyone else. Apologising for the past is a lot harder when you plan on making the same exact choices again.” 

Stefan nodded sadly, before tilting his head, frowning. “I hear chanting. We’re close.” 

As they trekked through the forest, Annalise considered finally reaching a large clearing with a circle of witches chanting loudly around a central witch holding Bonnie’s head in a tight grip, a promising find. 

The small clearing was lit up with large flaming torches that burned brighter with each Latin exclamation. It sounded as remorseless as it looked; Bonnie sobbed and writhed on the ground in pain, begging for the main central witch to stop. 

Annalise felt  _ rage  _ bubble viciously under her skin as she sent a quick text to Nik – “ **Get here. Bonnie’s hurting, I might do something I’ll regret.”**

Stefan glanced at her worriedly. “What’s happening?”

Annalise clenched her jaw, resetting her stance as a stone broke into dust under her foot. “From what I can tell...they’re all linked. They’re performing some kind of purification spell on her – for her Expression if I had to guess. This is gonna be  _ easy _ ,” Her eyes narrowed as Bonnie let out an agonised scream seizing on the forest floor – she felt her gaze flare silver. “Kill one,  _ kill ‘em all.” _

Stefan gripped her shoulders gently, warily. “We can’t do that, remember? We’ll fulfill the massacre – help Silas. Let me try first. You’re last resort.” 

Annalise physically held herself back and watched as Stefan sped into the circle – “Stop! It’s not what you think. She’s working for Silas.”

The central witch ceased her chanting, drawing a dagger out from beside her, the moon glinted off the sharp blade of the dagger as the witch raised it. “If Silas has her, she’s lost. We can’t save her.” 

Stefan seemed to understand the gravity of the situation, and how badly he had managed to fuck up. His face fell. “Wait-”

Before he could utter another word, he was staggering back with a groan, clutching his head in pain. The main witch smiled cruelly, twisting her hand in Stefan’s direction. “I have the power of twelve witches. You don’t stand a chance.”

Stefan grit his teeth in frustration before speeding back out of the circle and looking cautiously at Annalise. Her skin had taken on a light glow and her eyes seemed as bright as the stars that littered the night sky – but she was  _ pissed.  _ It was taking all her restraint to try to figure out a way to end this without anyone dying, having to save people was tiring and  _ it was starting to get on her fucking nerves. _

Nik and Caroline appeared beside them; Caroline was still panting slightly as Stefan caught them up to speed. “They’re linked. Bonnie’s gonna kill them. Lis is about to go nuclear. We need to do something, fast.” 

Nik approached Lis’s side. “Hey, love. We can’t let Silas win-” 

“I’m not letting that poor girl  _ die,  _ Nik.” She turned to face him, hissing furiously. “They were gonna do this to me too – they thought I was dark; trust me when I say it  _ hurts _ .” 

Bonnie screamed. The next second, Annalise had blinked into the middle of the circle, raising both her arms up sharply. A wave of silver light cascaded out in a small  _ boom  _ – throwing the circle of women backwards. She jerked her arms down in anger, and all of a sudden, all the witches except the middle witch was jolted upwards in mid-air by invisible strings like marionettes. 

The only witch not suspended in midair regarded her with fear. “What  _ are you?” _

Annalise scowled. “Unlink yourself from your sisters  _ now.  _ If you hate Silas – you don’t want him to rise to his full power, do you? You are doing what he wants. You are fuelling his agenda. Put aside your own petty grievances and take a look at the bigger  _ fuckin’  _ picture.” 

The witch glared back. “He can’t get what he wants – he can’t.” The witch steadied her knife, plunging it downwards into Bonnie’s chest.

Lis flicked a hand, teleporting the young Bennett behind her. She heard Caroline scramble to her unresponsive friend’s side as the dagger met dirt. Annalise smirked at the livid witch dully. “Unlink your sisters. I won’t repeat myself again.” 

The witch raised her arms widely, disregarding Lis’ threat. “Great Spirits, hear me now, help me now. Help me destroy the Bennett.” 

There was a pause before a great cascade of spiritual energy permeated the air as Bonnie started screaming in agony; her eyes rolled back into her skull revealing her jarring white pupil-less eyes as she convulsed in Caroline’s arms. “No!” The young vampire exclaimed.  The next second, Lis saw that the dagger the witch held was buried deep in her chest – Caroline held the hilt, pushing it deeper into the witch. The magic stopped all at once, dissipating into nothing once more.

Annalise’s face remained impassive as she felt the life inside the witch disappear, before each of the consecutive witches in the air dropped one by one like puppets with their strings cut – they were dead before they hit the ground. 

Nik approached them, laying a comforting hand on Annalise’s shoulder, jarring her back to reality as he muttered lowly at Caroline. “What have you done?” 

Caroline looked around, the gravity of her actions finally sinking in. She stared horrified at the numerous dead bodies in the circle – every witch that she’d killed. 

Annalise passed a tired gaze at Stefan. This reiterated her earlier point – they put no one’s well being above one of their own. He looked away, unable to meet her unsurprised gaze. 

It should’ve incensed her - after all, anger had been all she had in the last two days - but instead of the familiar fury, Annalise felt drained. The most exhausted she’d felt in a while. 

Maybe expelling all that energy had been a good thing. 

She made her way quickly to Bonnie’s side with Caroline. The young witch’s milky-white eyes were still staring up at the expansive night sky, smiling subconsciously in chilling satisfaction. 

“The triangle is complete.”

One last seizure wracked the young witch’s body before her eyes fluttered shut. 

Annalise’s hands dug into the earth below her in trepidation. 

The torches in the clearing extinguished all at once. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you guys feel about the length of my chapters? Are they too long? And let me know how you felt about this chapter!   
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	32. American Gothic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday Chapter coming your way!  
> Warnings: Strong Language and Canon-Typical violence, along with graphic depictions of blood. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Stefan had elected to take the unconscious Bonnie home, gesturing for Caroline to follow him, but she had refused dully.

In the light of the full moon filtering coldly through the tall trees of the forest, Annalise had seen true horror on Caroline’s face, the kind that left people speechless and detached. Even the sounds of the forest seemed muted, as if taking a moment of silence to mourn the mass deaths that had occurred in the span of a few moments. Nik, usually the one to make light of mortality, was strangely sombre as he looked around at the dead women scattered around the clearing, gaze flicking to Caroline often with his lips pressed into a grim line.

As Stefan left with Bonnie balanced in his arms, Annalise watched Caroline deal with her grief and guilt in apparently the only way she knew how; by making it into a task, another item on a to-do list or a party planner. She imagined a list with a checkbox next to ‘Clean up brutal and preventable witch massacre’ then envisioned the girl ticking it off with a satisfied smile. The mental image made Annalise shudder, but not in anger, or sorrow, or any other emotion.

No. Annalise was just cold.

As Caroline declared that the witches needed a proper burial and zoomed away, muttering to herself about finding a spade, Annalise and Nik looked at each other wordlessly. Lis looked away first, moving to brace herself against a tree as exhaustion hit her. Only the rustling of leaves in the chilly breeze kept them company until Caroline returned. It had felt wrong to leave.

Nik had stayed behind too; to help, out of pity, or understanding, Annalise couldn’t tell. Lis slid down, making herself comfortable at a base of her tree.

They watched Caroline start to dig at the ground viciously, angrily, as if it had taken something from her.

Nik had taken the shovel from her soon afterwards and continued to dig the graves in a more practiced and refined manner. Caroline moved to sag against the tree next to Annalise as a result, passing her a brief glance. Unable to say anything to take away from the unspeakable act that had just occurred, the girls just looked away instead.

Annalise didn’t know when she had fallen into a restless asleep, but she woke up to the rhythmic sound of hard metal thudding against soft dirt. She woke up warmer than she had fallen asleep – this could have been due to the sun’s rays breaking softly through the high treetops, or the large jacket that enveloped her as she had curled up against the tree fully. She sniffled, hearing the soft scrape of a shovel against the forest floor she stretched her legs, wincing when the morning dew saturated her jeans like a cold compress.

“You’re up.” Caroline was apparently still sitting next to her, staring despondently to where Nik was filling in a hole – the twelfth, judging by the number of low mounds of dirt showing buried corpses lined up neatly within the clearing. Annalise blanched remembering the night before. It hadn't been just a nightmare, though a small difference was in hers, was that Kol had died with a stake through his chest, then buried in the 13th grave. His eyes felt like they were still watching her. She had let him die too, like the witches around her. 

Her fidgety gaze moved to Nik when he spoke, still stuck in the guilt that had pooled thickly in her gut. “Perfect timing, Lissie. I’m just about finished.” He patted the last mound of dirt flat, turning to look at Caroline, shooting her a dark and unreadable look. She’d never seen him look at Caroline that way before, and that fact worried Lis. “There, twelve graves for twelve witches. Like it never happened.”

He stabbed the ground with the shovel, leaving it standing up as he approached them, rolling down the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt, stained dark with dirt. “Only it did happen, and now Silas has everything he needs to open the gates to hell on earth.”

A small frown creased Caroline’s brow as she looked back at Nik, equally grim. “You were doing nothing; you were about to let Bonnie di _e._ Whatever Lis was doing just wasn’t working so-”

“So, you took matters into your own hands. Even Lissie, in her angered state knew the stupidity of killing all the witches at once. I know arithmetic isn’t your strong suit, but one is still less than twelve.”

Annalise looked away, her fingers digging into the soft forest floor below her as Caroline stood up angrily, getting into Nik’s face. “They were going to kill my best friend.”

Nik smirked darkly at Caroline. “You tell yourself whatever you need to so you can sleep at night.”

Lis inhaled sharply, blinking back the sudden moisture in her eyes. Maybe that's why she couldn't go to sleep. Maybe she needs to confess. Caroline paused too, as if Nik's words finally sunk in. Her gaze drifted off of his face and over his shoulder to the mounds of dirt littering the clearing. Dismayed realisation dawned on her face as she whispered to herself breathlessly. “I just killed twelve people.”

Nik shifted closer as Caroline started to gasp, her body rocking with the shake of her sobs. He placed his hands on her arms in what appeared to be sympathy, though his eyes were no longer warm as they stared at her. “Hey…hey. You look like you’re in need of comfort.” Caroline nodded vulnerably; her face crumpled into grief. A cruel smile replaced Nik’s concerned expression. “Why don’t you find someone less terrible you can relate to?”

Caroline stilled, her face flashing with hurt and disappointment as she regarded Nik’s smug air, before she wrenched out of his grip, turning to storm angrily out of the clearing in a blur.

That was odd. Annalise remembered the pair being close the night before, almost flirting in Shane’s office. Something had gone down between Nik and Caroline since then. Annalise sighed, still clutching the huge jacket to her shoulders as she got to her feet, approaching him. She reached out to pat Nik’s arm lightly, his cruel expression had dropped the second Caroline had turned. That meant something.

“That seemed harsh, even for you. You okay?”

Nik was frowning at the forest floor, deep in thought. “Why do terrible people do terrible things?”

Annalise shrugged, when she spoke, her voice was as weak as she felt on the inside. “Because they have terrible reasons to do so. Maybe they want to hurt people, or maybe they had no other choice. Maybe they didn’t even know what they were doing is wrong, or they let something happen knowing its horrible outcome.” Lis rubbed her arms, swallowing the guilt pooling at the back of her throat. “Worst of all, it’s when people do terrible things for no reason. Just because they could.” Nik tilted his head, considering her words.

“So I am a terrible person?”

“No more than I am.”

“You?” Nik huffed, grin stretching up to his amused eyes. She couldn’t muster up a smile back, so as he studied her closely, his bright grin dropped. “Are you okay?”

He moved closer when Annalise cleared her throat, unable to meet Nik’s eyes. “Um…I- I couldn’t admit it, I didn’t want to - not in front of anyone else.” There was a lump in her throat she couldn’t get rid of as her eyes lingered on the raised mounds of dirt behind Nik. “I didn’t stop her.”

Nik frowned, immediately deducing her thought process as her gaze wandered from grave to grave with tears misting her eyes. “You couldn’t have, Caroline moved too fast.”

“No, no.” Annalise shook her head once more, eyes haunted as they met his. “I knew she was going to do it. I could tell. I wanted her to.” Her voice came out breathlessly as she curled further in on herself, dwarfed by Nik’s huge jacket. “I was angry. I wanted Bonnie to stop hurting. I wanted Kol to come back. I wanted them to die so the triangle could be complete _._ All he needs now is the cure for after the veil drops. _”_

Nik sighed, reaching to squeeze her shoulder. “You were under the influence of dark magic, Lissie. You didn’t drive the dagger into that witch’s heart.”

Annalise nodded lightly, but didn’t believe him. What she did was just as bad. He wouldn’t understand seeing Caroline’s gaze drift to the dagger, her convulsing friend, and then the witch. He wouldn’t understand seeing the determination in Caroline’s eyes as she sped for the dagger before burying it in the witch’s chest then watching the rest follow her in death, and feeling _pleased_ for it. Annalise didn’t have to lift a finger for everything to fall into place, and she hated herself for it. She was a terrible person. 

A branch cracked under someone’s feet behind them. They whipped around to face the intruder.

“Sorry if I’m disturbing what appears to be an awfully private conversation.” Shane/Silas stepped casually out of the undergrowth, gaze solemnly drawn to the graves around them, as if grieving their loss. Nik moved Annalise slightly behind him, but still smirked confidently, his previous air of seriousness gone. “Silas, I presume?”

Silas nodded, still looking subdued. “Who else?” He finally looked at Annalise glaring at him from behind Nik. “From what I just heard; it appears I should thank you. Of the three massacres, this one was the one I was dreading most.”

Annalise’s face fell, but she glared harder, moving around Nik. “Get lost.”

“Oh, Gaia certainly never had your attitude.” He put his hand on his chest in mock offence. “Then again, I do find you more fun. Now, I have you, the Bennett, and the power of the triangle. All I need is one last simple ingredient.”

Nik shifted, patting his jacket down in an attempt to draw Silas’s attention to his confident smirk and off Lis. “I’m sorry mate. I don’t have it.”

Silas smiled, casually walking closer. “But you know who does, and the last thing you want is that cure to be used on you, so you bring it to me, and it won’t be. You get to live.”

Nik chuckled, deadpanning. “Yeah. With all of my dead supernatural enemies from the Other Side. You know, you don’t scare me, Silas, or Shane, or whoever you are.”

Shivers ran down Annalise’s smile as a chilling smirk spread on the immortal’s lips. “But I know what does.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out the indestructible white oak stake. 

“Nik, I thought you told me it was safe with-” Her breathless whisper was interrupted by Silas’s amused laugh.

“Let’s just say Rebekah’s mind is a little easier to read than yours. So, care to reconsider my offer?”

What happened next was a blur of movement. Nik had vamp sped to where Silas stood in fury – only to be met with an empty space. He paused, looking surprised, but as he turned, Silas appeared behind him, stabbing the stake into the middle of his back viciously, rendering a loud scream of pain from Nik as he fell to his knees.

Silas then violently snapped the end of the stake sticking out from Nik’s back, leaving the tip embedded in his blistering skin.

Annalise immediately let loose a blast of anger, throwing Silas back, sending him careening into a large tree behind him that splintered at the force with which he hit it with.

Then Lis was beside Nik in a flash, hand on his back, channelling her healing magic. Nik groaned louder, nearly collapsing onto her shoulder. She desperately channelled more magic into the wound, so much that her skin started to glow slightly and her eyes bled silver – but the _wound wasn’t healing._ She dug her fingers into the wound as far as she could – she felt the tip of the stake, but it wasn’t coming out. Nik screamed as she dug her fingers in deeper desperately.

She felt more than heard Silas grunt and click his spine back into place as he approached the pair smugly. “It’s okay, I missed by an inch. I’m not trying to kill him, not just yet. Just a little something to remember me by.”

Nik sagged, nearly losing consciousness, but Lis continued to pump her magic into the wound, trying to heal him. She felt Silas’s cold touch on her shoulder.

“Stop.”

Tears fell down her face as she refused to respond – Silas crouched next to her, grabbing her hand. That unreadable look in his eyes had returned, and his eyes didn’t seem as detached as they were before. “Stop. You’re not helping.”

Annalise faltered weakly. “Uh- I…what?”

Silas drew Annalise up gently, and she let him; still staring at the wound bleeding through Nik’s shirt. Silas’s voice sounded strangely gentle in her ear. “Relax, it’s just a little motivation. All he has to do, is return the cure to me. Then he'll get better.”

“But he doesn’t _have_ it.” Anger flooded her as Lis raised her hand and clenched it – Silas gasped clutching at his chest where he felt phantom hands grip onto his heart. “Take the stake out. Now.”

Silas grinned past the pain, gaze no longer unreadable. Instead, spiteful. “I will. If you leave with me, help me. He won’t die.”

Annalise relaxed her spell minutely, frowning. “I can’t leave him.”

Silas chuckled darkly. “You have no choice. You leave with me, and he lives.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You will. You’ll choose me, sooner or later. I’ll see you soon. After all, we’ve got places to be, dead to raise.”

"Never in a million years." Maybe he read her stance, read the tightening of her muscles as she readied to snap his neck. Maybe her reply didn’t sit well with him, judging by the darkening expression taking over his face. But either way, before Annalise could lift a finger, Silas had vanished from the clearing.

Her eyes fell on the to fallen form of her friend on the forest floor, it shook as fevers of some sort wracked through him. Shrugging off the large coat, she covered him with it gently.

Crouching, she touched Nik’s arm and teleported them to his drawing room, situating him on the couch face down and sitting in the armchair close by. Reaching out to touch his shoulder, she made herself comfortable, and started channelling through as much magic as she could while glancing around the room every so often.

Annalise couldn’t shake the feeling that Silas was going to make her regret her decision.

She hoped this time that she'd be ready. 

-

Something just wasn't sitting right with her. There was an itch in the back of her mind, distressingly _just_ out of reach as she sat close to Nik, still channelling her magic into him. It didn't look like it was helping though. He was pale, sweating, shivering worse than before. His back muscles spasmed regularly - he had taken his shirt off in a fever fit, clawing at his wound in terror before Annalise had been forced to use her magic to sedate him. His eyes had grown sunken and dull, and it terrified Annalise to no end. In all the time she'd known her best friend, he hadn't once lost his edge. 

Now he had, and it was her fault. Again. If she had reacted faster - if she had accepted Silas' offer instead of being selfish and refusing it. Refusing to go with him to save Nik's life...it seemed that all she was good at was making bad decisions. 

Restlessly climbing to her feet once, she stood over him and aimed her hands at the festering wound. She could _feel_ the magic of the stake embedded deep into his back, but she couldn't reach it; with her fingers nor with her magic, no matter how hard she tried. 

After another exhausting pull, Annalise sagged back down into her armchair tiredly, placing a cooled hand on Nik's brow gently. She didn't know how else to help him. 

The front door opened and shut, followed by the sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway. Heels, and familiar ones at that. Annalise glanced up, unsurprised at Caroline sleekly walking into the room. Her eyes immediately landed on Nik's prone and sickly form, her eyes widening in concern. That was...odd. Last she had seen Caroline and Nik, Caroline had looked at him hatefully. Lis watched with a raised eyebrow as Caroline hastened to Nik's side, dropping to her knees as she placed a gentle hand near his wound, examining it. "What the hell happened to him?" 

"Silas." Caroline looked at Annalise in fear at her dull tone. "He stabbed him with the white oak. Part of it's still in him. I can't get it out." 

Nik's gaze grew more focused as Caroline turned back to him, frowning at her. "Caroline? What are you doing here?" 

"What Annalise isn't willing to do, apparently. You're dying." Lis shot her an affronted expression as the vampire disappeared with a blur and reappeared with a pair of industrial pliers. Caroline wielded them like she would a weapon, shooing Annalise to the side before taking her place, and positioning the pliers above the wound. "This is gonna hurt." 

With that, she stabbed the pliers deep into the wound, drawing a pained yell from Nik, going as far as _twisting_ it, making him scream more. Annalise grabbed her by the wrist, immediately wrenching her hand out of Nik's back and pushing her away. "What the fuck's _wrong_ with you?!"

Something about Caroline's signature was off, now that she was looking more closely. It was like her magic was blurry and unfocused, as if someone had tried and half-way succeeded in copying it.

"Well, it's his fault, really." Caroline shrugged with a wicked smirk. "He still hasn't gotten me my cure." 

Nik was standing in a flash, pushing Annalise behind him even as he swayed unsteadily on his feet. "Silas." 

"That's right. This morning I looked like Shane. Now I look like Caroline, and tomorrow, who knows?" Caroline shrugged, walking back towards the entrance of the room. Annalise felt the blood drain from her face as Caroline grinned, crossing her arms. Now she knew what she was looking at, there was no doubt that Caroline's faux signature hid Silas' behind it. How had she missed this?! 

Nik grew even more livid, and Annalise was half sure that he was shaking out of barely constrained anger now, instead of fever-induced shivers. "Show me your real face, you coward."

"Now why would I do that when this is all so _fun?"_ He had been able to get inside her mind, fool her into believing he was someone other than he really was - fool two people at once. What else could Silas do? "Now, make sure you bring me the cure, or I'll bring you nothing but misery. You can really blame it all in Lissie here. She had a chance to stop this, but I'll let you in on a little secret, _Nik._ She's the real coward here."

Annalise lunged forwards with a growl, but Silas was gone before she lashed out with her magic. Behind her, Nik fell to the floor in an exhausted thud. Annalise immediately turned back to him, crouching as she placed a hand on his forehead worriedly. "You're burning up worse. Fuck. I'm sorry." 

Nik let out a few laboured breaths before passing her a wane smile. "The fault doesn't lie with you, Lissie." 

"Ugh it _does._ If I hadn't told you to-" Annalise stopped herself in shock. Holy _shit._

_Was that even possible?!_

"What Lissie?" 

"Gimme a sec." Annalise disappeared with a silver flash, before reappearing seconds later with a bright grin on her face. Nik's eyes widened in fear, then confusion as they landed on what she had clutched in her left hand. An unbroken white oak, complete with the rivulets of silver running down its crevices. 

"How?" Nik's brow furrowed in confusion even as he stood stiffly, coming closer to inspect the stake Annalise held out to him. Lis let out a sharp exhale. 

"He said he found out through Rebekah." Annalise shrugged. "She wouldn't have known that you wouldn't have hid it in your normal spot. She wouldn't have known that I had nightmares about it. She wouldn't have known you hid it in Kol's room so that I'd always know where it was, and that it was safe." 

Nik was shaking his head, but his eyes already had more clarity to it as he twisted an arm behind him to feel for the wound on his back. "But,"

"It feels so real. Looked so real. I know. But that's what he does, right? He's messing with us 'cos it's _fun._ Silas can get into people’s heads, make them see and feel things. He’s a fucking psychic, remember? He's more powerful than we were lead to believe.” 

Nik still looked hesitant to believe her, even as he rolled the stake in his hand familiarly. “But I can _feel_ the splinters moving towards my heart, Lissie, it’s real.”

“Nik, listen to me, don’t focus on the pain, focus on what I’m saying right now. You're holding the stake right now. It hasn’t left our possession. Silas _couldn't_ have had it. _Think_ about it Nik, use that genius brain of yours – it’s not _real_. Would I ever lie to you?”

As Nik studied her expression closely, his sickly-looking skin was starting to already look better, and his heavy breathing was becoming more regular. Lis smiled in relief. “There. Already getting better, right? You’re my best friend, Nik, I need you to trust me when I say you’re gonna be fine.”

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Caroline walked once more into the room, and both Annalise and Nik straightened before they realised that the voice had been masculine, and Caroline's eyes were wide with fear - real fear. She felt like Caroline too. Silas' energy was next to her - he stepped out, this time in Stefan's body. Annalise had the strangest sense of deja vu as he directed that sharp smirk at her, looking strange on Stefan's usually calm and kind face, but also bizzarely...fitting. 

"You're one smart cookie, Lissie, I'll give you that." Silas pushed Caroline further into the room, on closer inspection, he was holding a wooden stake to the blonde's back threateningly. Caroline seemed annoyed through her fear. 

"Can we please get this over with? I've got three different prom committees that I should be running right now." 

"Please, you were too easy. All _Stefan_ had to do was bat his eyes and you come running. Plus, I needed _some_ sort of leverage over Klaus, didn't I?" Silas looked between Nik and Caroline as they exchanged an awkward expression and looked away, before turning to Annalise exasperatedly. "Oh, don't tell me I've caught them in a little spat." Annalise sucked her teeth, nodding. Silas rolled his eyes. "Well, this just turned very awkward." 

Sighing, he pushed Caroline away, twirling the stake in his hand expertly before sighing. Nik caught her, moving her behind him quickly so Annalise and him stood slightly in front of the more vulnerable vampire.

"Okay, fine. I was going to do things the fun entertaining way, but now I'm gonna have to go with the boring threats. You," He pointed to Nik, "you've been given a taste of what I can do. If you don't get me the cure, soon, I will fill your head with a fate infinitely worse that death, and you will know no peace for the rest of your unimpressive life." Nik outwardly didn't shift a bit, but Annalise noticed his steady glare falter. Fuck. He was genuinely scared. 

She was too. Silas needed to die. 

"And you." Silas was in front of Annalise, looking at her with a threateningly casual smile. His own dark ones had the possessive glint she had caught a glimpse of when she’d first met him as he spoke down to her. “You _will_ help me reunite with the love of my life, and you will stay by _my_ side until that’s accomplished.”

Nik shifted to her side, but Annalise held a hand out in reassurance, pushing him back as she managed to steadily meet Silas' gaze, much to his amusement. “Nik, it’s okay. You guys get the cure." She furrowed her brow seriously, resigned to the choice she was making. "I’ll make sure he dies. Say sorry to Bekah for me, I know she had a lot riding on this.”

Lis' eyes hadn't left Silas’s intrigued gaze. “As long as you don’t hurt my friends, I’m gonna have absolutely no problem helping you along on your little suicide mission.”

Silas chuckled leaning back slightly. “Oh, feisty.” He stepped back casually, and put his hands in his pockets. “Keep that energy _darling_ , you’re gonna need it.”

“Stop that.”

“What?” Silas tilted his head, looking strangely at her little outburst.

Annalise grit her teeth. “Stop calling me darling. That’s twice now. One more time and I’m gonna light your ass on fire.” Silas threw his head back in laughter, walking away, until he turned on his heel, walking backwards with a smirk. He used his head to gesture away. “Now go make sure our little Bennett’s still on board with this plan, yeah?” He disappeared from the room with a smile still on his face. 

Annalise, Nik and Caroline all exchanged a worried glance. They were fucked.

Lis sighed, gave them a quick nod, then teleported to Bonnie’s house. 

-

When Annalise blinked into existence on the Bennett porch and knocked quietly on the door, Mayor Rudy opened the door looking towards her desperately. “She isn’t _okay._ What the _hell_ happened last night?”

Annalise frowned, looking away ashamed as she entered the house. “I- uh…came across a bunch of witches trying to take away her Expression by force – she was resisting. I tried to help, but in the end, it was Caroline who saved her. Bonnie fell unconscious after that. I can’t begin to imagine the strain her mind went through.”

Rudy nodded once, shutting his eyes tightly in regret. “That’s my fault – I had her mother call a coven of witches specialising in banishing Expression. I thought it would be best for her take this poisonous magic away from her. I can see the toll it's taking on my daughter, Ms. Caelis. I thought I was doing the right thing."

Mayor Hopkins lead her to the sitting room then. Both lingered at the doorway, watching Bonnie stare blankly off into the distance. Not even their presence was able to catch her attention. 

Annalise spoke lowly, smiling sadly at the mayor. “It would be the right thing to do." She turned back to look at the young witch, feeling like she'd failed her again. "Unfortunately, that’s not a decision you can make for her, it’s one she has to make herself.”

The Mayor nodded in sad comprehension, then in thanks before clapping her on the shoulder. Lis gave Rudy a quick nod of reassurance, watching him leave before sitting down slowly, opposite the unresponsive witch.

“Bonnie, sweetheart? You okay?”

Bonnie’s eyes flickered to hers, finally registering her presence before they filled with confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“You don’t remember?” Lis said softly, frowning.

“No, I-” A choked sob escaped the girl as tears started dripping down her eyes. “I didn’t remember anything past the island when Stefan brought me home last night, I- Jeremy-” Her words became unintelligible as she dissolved into body-wracking sobs. Annalise was beside her in a flash, allowing her to curl in and sob on her shoulder, holding her tightly.

Annalise felt hatred fester in her heart as she held the sobbing girl in her arms; hatred for Nik's situation, hatred for Bonnie’s, and hatred for Kol's.

Hatred _at_ Silas.

Silas. Oh, that hatred was bone, no, _soul-_ deep. It bubbled and burned like magma – she was helpless in his machinations and she _loathed_ herself for not being strong enough to protect those dear to her from him. 

What was most frustrating was that he _wanted_ to die; even if it was explicitly after he took the cure. She would be doing him a favour if she killed him. But Annalise wasn’t petty enough to deny his death from him just because he wanted it – by all means, she’d be more than happy to kill him.

But this did _not_ mean that she was helping him. No, Lis was helping Nik, her friends, and _Kol._

Silas was using her; she was more than happy to use him right back.

Settling down in the sofa opposite Bonnie’s after the witch had sobbed herself into a restless sleep, Lis took the Gaia journal from her bag, along with her grimoire, and started plotting.

Silas wasn’t gonna know what hit him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think Silas' plans with Lis are?  
> Sorry this chapter was a bit on the shorter end, I did read your wonderful comments about longer chapters, and I won't be worried anymore about uploading them!! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!


	33. Pictures of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola~ We reached 200 000 words omgggg  
> Same warnings as always: Strong language and Canon-Typical violence.  
> Should I also add that this turned out to be a long chapter? 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for the great comments last chapter, I literally read some and squealed hehe. I really do appreciate you leaving your thoughts behind!! Love you all!  
> Enjoy!

Wincing, Annalise groggily rubbed at the uncomfortable crick in her neck as she woke.

Wait… she sat upright abruptly, crinkling the research papers spread around her on the couch as the heavy acrid smell of smoke stung her nose. All traces of her discomfort vanished from her mind when she was greeted with the sight of Bonnie’s couch _engulfed_ in crackling flames with the young witch still tossing and turning in her sleep within it.

Sure, she had spent the last couple of nights crashing at Bonnie’s to make sure that Silas didn’t come anywhere near the poor girl and keeping an eye out for anything strange in general, but waking up on fire? That was certainly a new development. It was a small mercy the flames didn't seem to be hurting the young witch.

“Shit, Bonnie, _Bonnie_ , wake _up.”_

The teen remained unresponsive. Dammit. Annalise grimaced, bracing herself before taking a deep breath, then plunged her hand through the flames and on to Bonnie’s blistering skin. Dark magic _tore_ through her as though floodgates had opened, making her seize and yell in pain before draining away all at once, leaving behind an empty chill. The flames around them vanished without a trace.

Bonnie sat upright with a gasp, looking horrified as Lis slumped to the ground next to her, shaking in exertion. “Oh my god. _Lissie,_ oh my _god.”_ Immediately, Annalise was helped up onto the couch in mere seconds, even as Annalise flinched and recoiled every time Bonnie’s bare skin touched hers. She had to focus on not losing her temper and snapping at the young witch each time she did because by now, she should _know better._

Annalise breathed deeply, beating back the sudden anger that threatened to envelop her very _being,_ all because this amateur witch can’t learn _fucking control_. Her fingers itched, ready to burst into flames themselves as she looked towards Bonnie, trying to keep the hard edge out of her voice.

“What happened?” She wasn’t successful, going by how Bonnie’s face dropped in guilt. She ran a hand through her hair, avoiding Lis’ sharp gaze as she stared off into the distance when her eyes filled with painful tears.

“I was at the graveyard, visiting Jeremy; then, then I-” Bonnie breathed deeply, blinking rapidly while fiddling her fingers. “Then I _saw_ Jeremy. I don’t know if Silas was right, Lissie. I feel like I’m losing control of this magic. All of it. Maybe I still need him.”

Annalise shook her head hard in denial. “No way. Fuck him.” She reached to squeeze the younger girl’s shoulder in comfort, making sure not to touch her bare skin. She withdrew her arm almost immediately, rubbing her own shoulder with it as she tried to speak supportively. “I’m not gonna lie, Bon. Expression is a bitch to control. It’s like it has a life of its own. It itches to get out, wreak havoc. Explode. But that’s what I’m here for. You don’t need that _fucker_ Silas anymore. He messed your mind up, and you just finished healing from your temporary amnesia. We can’t trust him.”

Bonnie watched Annalise's fingers tap erratically on her thigh as she stood from the couch, settled her glasses higher on her nose and shuffled through the loose papers spread out over the floor, before grabbing a particular pile and offering it to Bonnie with a flourish. “I figured something out.”

Bonnie's forehead creased as she read through the annotated notes on the borders carefully. Her brows raised higher and higher until she finally looked up at a jittery Annalise.

“You really think this’ll work?” She sounded skeptical, and Annalise tried to tamp down her _anger_ at being second-guessed at what she does _best._

She took another deep breath instead. “In theory? Yeah.” Annalise shrugged, starting to pace. “Expression is drawing on sacrificial magic – we drain that shit in one go – sayonara Expression.”

That’s what had happened a few nights earlier with the witches; she had been so _energetic_ in a bad, murderous way, and as soon as she had expelled it, exhaustion was all that she had left. Looking to prove a point, Lis aimed her hand at the dead fireplace, using the dark magic Bonnie’s freak out this morning left behind to make it roar back to life violently. Her nerves calmed almost immediately, but the exhaustion that hit her, coupled with the last few nights of no rest had her unsteadily sagging into the sofa behind her.

Rubbing at her eyes from under her glasses, Annalise continued tiredly. “Silas wants us to destroy the veil separating this world from the other side, and to do that, he needs a very specific list of ingredients. Expression, check. Bennett witch, check. And I don’t know why the fuck he wants me, but honestly at this point, I don’t care. What we do know, however, is that he still needs a source of magic to link the spell to, a recurring event. So, I think Silas is biding his time until the next full moon – that’s the closest celestial event for miles around. That’s in a little less than a month.”

Bonnie shoved the papers to the side, clearly displeased as she stood up stubbornly. “But doing what he wants? Dropping the veil? That’ll mean all the supernatural dead will walk free.”

“Not if we contain it.” Lis smirked while crossing her arms, watching as realisation dawned on the younger witch’s face.

“We’ll need a border, point of power for reference…the _Triangle_. We can harness it ourselves - use it to our advantage.”

They were finally getting somewhere! Annalise got to her feet, meeting Bonnie’s wide grin with her own.

“Exactly. So, we still drop the veil, and we get Silas to take the cure and die _within_ the triangle, so he’d be reuniting with his love in the Afterlife. As soon as he dies, we raise the veil back up. We contain the dead and get rid of Silas. Done, and done.” She made a show of dusting her hands free of the whole ordeal and Bonnie laughed lightly in relief.

“I can’t believe we _finally-”_ She looked at Annalise warmly. “ _Thank_ you.” Her green gaze dropped to her feet in embarrassment as she turned away, digging under Annalise’s research to pull out a small grey pouch that Lis hadn’t seen before. Her forehead creased in question as she accepted it from the young witch.

“I uh...It’s something I found for you. For helping me and healing my mind. It was my grams'.”

Annalise drew a small ring from the pouch, beautifully delicate with an equally small effervescent stone set in it. “It’s an opal. Uh...my gram’s grimoire said that it had special properties - that you could even imbue your magic in it. It’s said that opals have the capacity to store magic, kinda like moonstones, but not just for spells.” Bonnie shrugged, not meeting Annalise's eyes. If she had, she might've seen Annalise blink rapidly to clear a sudden wetness gathering in her eyes. “I thought you put some of your own power in it, and any time my magic unsettled you, all you would need to do would be to reach for it, and you wouldn’t get lost in it. I thought it’d help.”

“How did you know I got lost in it?” Lis' voice was fragile as she was admired the ring, finding it hard to justify deserving such a precious gift. All she had done was get angry at the girl, and this was how she gave back. She swallowed thickly and looked back at Bonnie as she faltered.

“Uh…Silas told me. That you were getting lost in it, after you left to help Klaus the other night. Before…”

The massacre, Lis’ brain supplied. Bonnie bit her lip, unsure of what she was going to say next. Annalise’s inquisitive look prompted her. “It was almost as if he was…concerned for you.”

An incredulous chuckle broke free. “ _Concerned?_ Ha. He was egging us on, Bonnie. He was playing us the entire time.”

“You’re right.” Bonnie dragged a stressed hand through her short hair. “Maybe I’m just tired.”

Annalise reflected her small exhausted smile back before leaning in to capture her in a tight hug. It spoke volumes that Bonnie still hugged her back carefully, making sure not to touch the exposed skin of her arms in her sleeveless top.

“Well, thank you anyway. It means the world to me.” Retracting and giving her a warm smile, Annalise slipped the ring on her left index finger in relief.

Bonnie nodded with a small smile, but it fell when she looked back down at the paper she had shoved away on the ground. “The veil, the triangle. That all works, but...how…how would we get them back? Jeremy and Kol?”

Annalise’s cheerful expression fell, as she looked to the ground. “I-I don’t know Bonnie. I’ve been thinking about that. All of the texts I’ve gone through have only warnings, no advice. Bringing a person back to life is a huge strain, it practically borders on Necromancy. It needs rituals, sacrifices. That shit’s dark, unnatural.”

“But I _have_ dark magic, I have Expression.” Bonnie was quick to argue defiantly. “I can use that to bring them back, like you said; I get rid of all of it in one go – then I’m done, and everyone’s back.”

“And I'm saying you might not have enough. I’m not telling you that you should give up on getting Jeremy back. That’s your call to make.” Annalise shook her head, looking away guiltily. “Bon, one person alone is enough of a strain, then Kol too? I can’t let you do that for me. I can’t let you risk your _life_ for me, for my friend.”

Bonnie leaned forwards to grip Lis’s hands tightly, and Lis bit back the feeling of unpleasant tingles that erupted up her arms again as she looked at Bonnie’s insistent frown. “But you risked yours for me _everyday_. You’re the only one who’s been here for me. Let me do this for you.”

An overwhelming sense of grief hit her and Annalise cleared her throat, hoping to swallow the lump that had appeared. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity – all the guilt she’d felt for Kol’s death, the nightmares, that would all go away wouldn’t it?

But looking at the young girl in front of her, she knew she couldn’t risk Bonnie’s life to bring back her own friend; that wasn’t _right._ She hoped wherever Kol was, that he would forgive her for this. If he didn't, well, that was something she'd learn to live with, because at least then he'd be alive to hate her for it.

She shook her head, passing Bonnie a small smile.

“No, Bon. I’ll think of another way, I can’t-I can’t let you do this for me. It’s okay, I’ll figure out a way myself.” She saw Bonnie shake her head, trying to reassure her, but Lis cut her off with a sad chuckle. “Plus, what would your friends think? Damon would kill you.”

Bonnie huffed and rolled her eyes, sitting back, and Lis smiled at her appreciatively for dropping it. She knew that there were only so many times she could convince herself to refuse help.

Bonnie’s phone buzzed and Annalise watched the young girl looked at it puzzled, before her expression cleared into a small disbelieving smile. “That was Caroline. She’s asking me to come dress shopping for senior prom. I can’t believe I forgot.” Annalise softened as she watched Bonnie continue with a smile, packing up quickly. She hadn’t seen her this…unburdened in a while. “I’m not gonna let Silas make me isolate myself. I’m gonna go and enjoy a great day with my friends.” She looked questioningly at Annalise. “I’m surprised Rebekah hasn’t texted you about it yet.”

Right. Annalise hadn’t heard back from Rebekah, hell, even seen her since Kol died a bit more than a week ago. Feeling the need to escape Bonnie’s inquisitive gaze, Annalise also stood up too, busily collecting her loose piles of paper and shoving them in her grimoire before picking up her worn handbag from the sofa. Bonnie stopped her near the doorway, now concerned. “What’s up?”

Lis passed her an uncomfortable smile. “Yeah…I-I haven’t talked to her since, um…since Kol.”

Bonnie winced, pausing. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. We convinced her that you were trying to sabotage her chances of getting the cure.”

Annalise chuckled shallowly at Bonnie’s extremely guilty expression. “Relax, Bon. I knew.” She patted the girl on the shoulder lightly, letting a fake grin tug unnaturally on her cheeks. “Nik told Bekah that I wasn’t really involved too, so I’m sure that isn’t the reason she still isn’t talking to me. Maybe I can spend a nice day with her too, figure out what’s wrong. Patch things up.”

Bonnie smiled at her reassuringly and nodded. 

Annalise found her throat blocked once more, so all she did was wave wordlessly before teleporting to the Mikaelson mansion.

This day had all the makings of turning out horribly, as far as signs were considered. Though as she rubbed at her new ring unconsciously, she couldn’t help but feel strangely ready to face the trials ahead.

-

As soon as Annalise appeared in the foyer, she heard murmured sounds of conversation in the dining room. That wasn’t usually strange by any means. Though Hayley was gone, Nik tended to entertain himself by inviting guests over and messing with the locals of Mystic Falls. However, she figured that little habit would’ve been broken after Silas revealed he could be, well…anyone.

Nik had made her hang around the house near him a great deal out of fear for the immortal tracking him down once more and catching him unawares, but Lis had managed to ease him off for small amounts of time which she had spent researching in the Bennett household.

Following the familiar voices, her heart couldn’t help but lift at the sight of Elijah, Rebekah and Nik all sitting around the circular dining table, engaged in a somewhat civilised conversation. She had missed them. What a pleasant change in pace. Her grin was genuine as she started into the room. 

All three paused in their conversation, and instead of the normal welcome Annalise had been hoping, they looked towards her with wary eyes. Right. This was another relatively new development. Nik raised his hand in a stop motion. “Password?” 

Annalise paused, rolling her eyes. “Nik, how many times have I told you that’s a stupid question? Anything you’d know, Silas would know. Y’know, ‘cos he’s in your brain.” Grinning, she slowed her speaking, enunciating word for word as if she was spelling her point out to a toddler. “What part of ‘He’s psychic’, don’t you understand?”

Nik smirked back in good humour. “Then tell me something I wouldn’t know.”

She crossed her arms, rolling her eyes and shrugging. “I don’t know, I tell you practically everything.”

“Ah.” Nik smirked dangerously standing up. “Practically being the key word. I’m sure you still have some ghosts of lives past that we’re not privy to.”

Annalise paused, hoping her hesitation didn’t show outwardly. He…couldn’t know, could he? Maybe she could go with a more recent memory.

“Fine, _fine.”_ Lis sighed, unsure how Nik would react to this. It was a miracle she didn't stumble over her words as she shared her memory. “Day after I woke up from the medallion, I was about ready to leave. But Kol found me, defended you, and convinced me to forgive you. When I asked why, he said you’d be insufferable about it if I left.”

Nik narrowed his eyes and was silent for a moment before nodding. Annalise noticed his gaze had softened no small amount as he invited her towards the table with a warm smile. Elijah nodded at her kindly in greeting too, but Rebekah’s expression remained unchanged, glaring daggers at the table as Lis sat down next to her. She felt her smile drop, looking around the table quickly.

“I interrupted something serious. What’s going on?”

Nik gestured at Elijah sarcastically, anger returning to his expression. “It appears that Elijah’s been having secret little rendezvous with Katherine – he currently holds the cure in his hands.”

Lis’s eyes widened as she looked between the two brothers before they landed on Elijah questioningly. “And why isn’t it in Silas’s hands right now?”

Rebekah huffed in anger as Elijah opened his mouth to speak, but Nik spoke over him, casually answering her question sarcastically. “Because Lissie, dear Elijah wants to entertain the notion of our little sister being human again before handing over the one thing that could stop my eternal torture at the hands of a madman. Silas can appear as _anyone_. He got inside my thoughts, convinced me I was dying. Rest assured; he _will_ torment me until I give him the cure.”

“And in doing so, he will break down the wall to the Other Side.” Rebekah said with a scowl.

Lis raised her hand, feeling the need to correct her. “Actually, working on that right now, shouldn’t…” She trailed off at the blistering glare Rebekah levelled her with, “…be a problem.” Nik smirked at her widely as Elijah studied her.

“See? Lissie’s got it all handled. Silas wants to reunite with his lost soulmate.” He gestured to Elijah. “You of all lovesick fools should applaud his devotion.”

Annalise rolled her eyes at Nik’s unhelpful comment but listened closely as Rebekah spoke up again. “He will open the floodgate for every supernatural that has ever died.”

Lis smiled half-heartedly. “Again, handled.”

Nik nodded. “Lissie’s even working on a way to get Kol back-”

“Actually,” Annalise looked down guiltily, clearing her throat. “Actually…my, ah…initial idea on getting him back may not pan out. I’m still working on a way, though, another one.”

Nik, Rebekah and Elijah’s faces fell slightly, then Rebekah’s soured even more. “So much for all that _talk_ about having the powers of a deity; because that’s all you are, right? Just all talk, no results.”

 _“Rebekah-_ ” Nik hissed in anger, but Lis cleared her throat, trying to dislodge a lump in it, before looking towards Elijah.

“Trust me, give Silas the cure, _please._ Reconsider.” She begged, trying to ignore Rebekah’s betrayed expression.

Rebekah stood angrily, sending the dining chair back with a loud scrape. “What did I ever do to you, Annalise? I thought you said you _supported_ me? You told me you did, then you were there that night with Kol to hurt my chances of ever getting the cure, _admit it_.”

“No, no, I promise.” Lis looked at her friend earnestly. “I _do_ support you Bekah, but just, think about it. Even if there was nothing stopping you from taking the cure, would you truly be happy with a mortal life? You’d be _human_ , the target of all of your family’s enemies looking for leverage. You’d have to spend your life on the run, constantly looking over your shoulder – praying that you’d be safe, that your future _family_ would be safe _._ You'd _hate_ it.”

Rebekah’s teary eyes mirrored her own. Annalise felt as though she had crossed a line in the tension that lingered. Her friend's voice was brittle as she spoke again. “At least I’d _have_ a family, Lis. At least it would be a life I _chose_ to lead. I was wrong to think you ever understood me.”

A heavy silence hung in the air, and Annalise was trying her absolute hardest to keep her tears at bay.

Elijah cleared his throat uncomfortably.

“Lissie, forgive me, but all you’ve done is present a list of vagaries; and Niklaus, your personal discomfort might not be sufficient reason for putting the entire world in jeopardy. I think our sister deserves a shot at happiness.”

Nik leaned forwards in his chair angrily with disbelieving eyes. “Tell me you’re joking. _Tell me_ you’re not fating me to an eternity of torture.”

Elijah shook his head once, sternly. “I’ve made my decision.”

Nik stood, pausing only to lean towards Rebekah threateningly. His anger was tangible in the way his hands clenched tightly at his sides. “When you’re sick and dying, and you _beg_ for my blood, I will laugh in your face and compel you to forget me.” He straightened, dark glare lingering threateningly, before stalking out of the room in a hurry.

Looking down, Annalise was reminded of the fear he had in his eyes as he had looked towards Silas. If she knew anything about him, he was likely thinking his family had failed him yet again. She had too, by failing to convince Elijah of another alternative.

Annalise had also failed Rebekah, and she wanted nothing more than to fix this chasm that she felt stretching between them.

She stood quietly, apology already forming on her tongue, but they all paused on hearing the confident clacking of high heels in their direction.

Elena waltzed in, for the lack of a better word, with a bright red streak in her hair and a bored, unimpressed look in her eye. 

“I forgot how drab this whole place is.” Elena looked at Annalise still watching her curiously. “Oh, hi there Lissie. Long-time no see. Figured I’d see you anywhere Klaus was, sucking up to the brute now that your other favourite Mikaelson’s gone. Sorry about that. Totally got me back by refusing to bring back my brother though. Consider us even?”

Annalise tamped back her anger as best she could, but still the chandelier above them shook and flickered. She inhaled deeply, before giving Elena a chilling smile. “Not in your dreams, sweetheart. Hey I’m curious,” Lis strode towards the girl, feeling her fury emanate from her. Elena’s face fell slightly as she neared, despite still putting on an uncaring expression. “When your switch is off, do you _fear_ death?”

“Annalise.” Looking back at the stern warning, she found Elijah and Rebekah standing up and looking at her warily. She faltered. Maybe she still had a bit residual magic left over from Bonnie’s.

Fuck, now they were even more wary of her than before. Annalise felt her shoulders sag in exhaustion as she turned back to Elena guiltily. “Sorry, looks like you ran into me on an off day. Just tell us why you're here so we can get you back on the road. Why are you here?”

“Not here to deal with your drama that’s for sure.” Elena having recovered, gained back her confident countenance, smirking sarcastically. “I’ve come to collect my new bestie to go dress shopping. Bekah, you coming?”

Annalise looked hesitantly towards Rebekah, but the blonde made no move to meet her gaze. She was only making things worse, wasn’t she? Nodding to herself, she followed in the same direction Nik stormed off in.

Everything was falling apart.

And Annalise was feeling _useless._

-

A gloomy atmosphere had fallen heavily across Nik’s grand drawing room. Lis was spread out on the couch under a large blanket doing her level best to imitate a log, and Nik had been venting out his frustrations in bold strokes of black and red on an innocent piece of canvas for the last couple hours.

Currently though, he was staring at the lit fireplace deep in sombre thought nursing a glass of bourbon.

“Klaus? Klaus?!” Lis poked her head out of the blanket at Caroline’s annoyed voice echoing through the hallways. Nik didn’t react outwardly, even as Caroline strode angrily into the room. “ _Hello?_ Did you not hear me?”

His eyes darted to Annalise for a split second, and she nodded. This was Caroline, not Silas.

Nik looked towards the fire once more. “Of course, I heard you Caroline. I think the whole of Mystic Falls heard you.” Annalise snorted under her breath, drawing Caroline’s startled attention to her, as Nik continued. “I’m in no mood for company.”

Caroline gawked, pointing at Lissie in an accusatory manner. “But _she’s_ here.”

Nik shrugged, still facing away, this only served to annoy Caroline further.

“Fine, whatever. I’m sorry you guys are having personal issues, but I have a real crisis on my hands. Elena stole my prom dress!”

Caroline ended her sentence with her eyes and arms wide, as if they _had_ to understand the enormity of the tragedy that had befallen her.

“That’s sounds like it’s _your_ personal issue to me.” Lis spoke up from her blanket cocoon.

Nik finally turned, looking amused, raising an eyebrow at her, making Annalise stifle her chuckles into the blanket. Caroline nodded, finally glad to have received Nik’s attention, and continued to explain her catastrophe. “I went to pick it up and tailor said somebody already did. And when I asked who, she said she couldn’t remember.” She looked between her two entertained listeners significantly, as if they were missing something. “ _Hello?_ The vervain is out of the town water supply. She was compelled!”

“Gasp.” Lis deadpanned, making her and Nik erupt into giggles.

Caroline looked insulted. “This isn’t _funny.”_

“No, I know, I know.” Nik could barely make out the words through his laughter.

“Then _stop_ laughing!” Caroline looked serious, but her eyes were twinkling as she looked between the pair trying and failing spectacularly to hide their amusement. “Look, I know that prom isn’t important to you, but it’s important to me.”

Annalise’s laugh tapered off as Caroline’s words sunk in. Nik, however, wasn’t as moved as his friend was. “Well, surely finding another dress is well within your substantial vampire capabilities?”

Caroline turned to him, scowling in frustration. “But I don’t want _just another_ dress. I wanna look _hot._ Like Princess-Grace-of-Monaco hot. So…could you _please_ go back into your creepy trophy case of family collectibles and dig me out something of royal calibre?”

She punctuated her plea with a winning smile, but Lis was sure her own grin had disappeared as she remembered her own prom, and the complete disaster it had been.

Nik was smirking back at Caroline though, still amused. They had appeared to have put aside their prior disagreements after Silas, and Annalise could tell that he definitely had something beautiful in mind for Caroline to wear. Plus, at least one of them was distracted from their brooding for the time being.

Her on the other hand…this conversation was the second today to have reminded Annalise of time she had forced herself to put behind her. She shook her head lightly as Nik walked past her with Caroline.

Annalise wasn’t going to be joining them.

No, she’d rather sit here and wallow in her self-pity, thank you very much.

Here’s to the true high school experience.

-

Shortly after leaving the drawing room with Caroline to search for a dress that would live up to the teen’s insane standards for senior prom, Nik wandered back and sat on the other end of the couch. Lis curled her legs up to her chest to make room for him as he sat with a sigh.

An entertained smirk pulled at her lips as she watched him pour himself another glass of bourbon from the decanter beside him. “That bad?”

“Worse.” His eyes crinkled at her as he took a sip, before they dulled a small amount. “Still trying to get me to allow Tyler to come back.”

Annalise sat up as she spoke softly. “And…?”

“What of it?” He took a large sip from his glass, waving it around with another grin, fake this time, stretching at his cheeks. “Her choices are her own, far be it for me to influence her in anyway. After all, I am a terrible person who does terrible things.”

“Wait is this what brought on our chat in the woods?” Annalise sat up straighter as Nik avoided her eyes. Her own narrowed at him. “No, something else happened, didn’t it?”

It took a while for Nik to nod. Annalise waited patiently until he spoke. “She tried to force my hand. Said that I owed her, and that I was in my own way.” He stared into his bourbon.

“Hey.” Annalise nudged him with her foot to get his attention. “Do you _like_ like her?” Annalise half laughed out when he looked at her expressionlessly, but also disappointedly, as if the words she said were beneath him. “What? Not eloquent enough for you? We can't all be best buds with Dickens, okay?”

Nik grinned at her before looking back at his drink, swirling it. “I enjoy the chase; I enjoy her fire.” He shrugged, turning serious. “And yes, I enjoy her company at times. Most often though, I find myself at odds with her world view. Caroline has the world divided perfectly into right and wrong, good and bad.”

“And I bet that you find it hard to fit into just one category, huh?” Annalise gave him a sympathetic smile, shrugging. He looked to the side glumly. Well, that won’t do. “Maybe the more she gets to know you, the more she’ll realise what an overdramatic asshole you are and put you in the diva category.”

She received a swift pillow to her face, making her let out an _oof._

“Careful, Lissie. That sort of talk might get you daggered in this house.” Elijah was leaning casually against the doorframe. Nik stiffened, narrowing his eyes at his brother in anger, but Lis snorted easily.

“Tried and tested, Lijah. Guess I'm just built different.” She tilted her head as her light grin dropped. “You aren’t changing your mind about the cure, are you?”

He straightened, before walking to the couch opposite them, sitting down fluidly after unbuttoning his suit jacket – the epitome of proper. “Please understand my decision wasn’t made lightly, Lissie. Rebekah now needs to spend a day as a human, without using her powers at all, to prove that she can survive it.”

“That…” Lis and Nik exchanged a surprised glance, “…actually sounds quite fair.”

Nik rolled his eyes at Lis’ comment. “It still won’t stop Silas in continuing to torment me, however.”

Elijah narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. “I hear you have the stake, Niklaus. You’ve additionally survived endless torments throughout the centuries. You’ll shake this. And if you can’t, you outrun him.”

Lis watched worried as Nik stood, chuckling coldly. His entire demeanour had shifted once more into what it was a couple hours ago. His family had disappointed him yet again. “Yes, it’s that simple. Without the cure, what makes you think I’ll spare your beloved Katerina? Or have you figured out you’re simply a fly in her web?”

Oh, okay.

This conversation had gone off on quite the tangent. Lis shuffled uncomfortably under the blanket as Elijah stood, almost begging Nik. “You will spare her because I’m _asking_ you to spare her. As your family, as your only _living_ brother _,”_ Lis flinched, “I would ask that you provide me with this opportunity to feel, to care. To love.”

Annalise felt pity for Elijah, but her feelings were clearly not the same as Nik’s – no, he looked absolutely livid. He leaned in close to Elijah, growling lowly. “I gave you that opportunity. And you sided against me. So, if I run, it’ll be to chase her. And as _your_ only living brother, I will make it my cause that you never know a moment of happiness.”

Okay, that’s enough. “ _Nik._ ” Annalise stood, letting the blanket haphazardly pool on the couch behind her. “One – Elijah had to choose between you and Bekah, and he chose the option that hurt _less.”_

“Hurt less?” He chuckled darkly. “What part of an eternity of torment _don’t_ you understand? _”_

“The part where you are strong enough to survive it, fight it, you oaf. And you wouldn’t be alone, you’d have me against Silas, _and_ Elijah.” She pointed to the quiet Original to prove her point. “I was wrong before, okay? This is Bekah’s _dream,_ literally a _miracle,_ and she’d never recover from her hurt and anger if she never got the chance to at least _try._ I know that now. _”_

Nik quieted down, lips thinning.

Annalise took a deep breath, continuing. “Two; Elijah never makes a decision without thinking hard about it first, hell, that much is obvious from the test he’s given Bekah. If he thinks Katherine deserves a second chance, that _means_ something.”

Nik glared at her. “I liked you better when you were under the effects of the medallion.”

“Okay, that was uncalled for.” Lis huffed putting her hands on her hips and meeting his glare seriously. “I might be overstepping here. But I promise, Bonnie and I, we’ve got a plan. Granted that plan does need the cure, but we'll find our way around it, like we always do. Nik, this is about Elijah and Bekah, their _happiness_ \- if anything's worth being tortured over, it's family, isn't it?" 

Nik’s glare got worse, sinking disappointedly into her soul before he stalked out of the room wordlessly. He couldn’t always expect her to take his side…surely?

Elijah looked to her gratefully as his brother left. “Thank you, Lissie.”

"Yeh, well. Let's hope he doesn't go do something stupid now." A half-hearted smile lifted a side of her mouth as she sadly reached for the blanket to fold it up neatly. “Do you really believe Katherine’s changed? I only met her once, briefly. But uh...she did orchestrate the death of the hybrids. To put it delicately, she was kind of um…let’s say…. _self-serving._ ”

Elijah chuckled tiredly. “Katerina in a nutshell.” He sighed heavily, leaning on the back of the armchair as he intoned. “I am cautious to believe she has changed, though this time she is significantly more convincing.”

Lis nodded sympathetically. “So, what are you gonna do?”

Elijah was silent for a long moment. When he spoke, his words were contemplative. “I believe you were right; it would be my duty to stand beside Niklaus after I condemn him for a life filled with torture, would it not?”

“No, not duty, Lijah. A choice, I think. One that you’d make in a second.” She smiled sadly. “I admire you. There aren’t many that would give up love for family.”

Elijah smiled gently, but it was overrun by sudden worry as Lis gasped, leaning her weight suddenly on the armrest of the ornate sofa. “What’s wrong?”

Annalise caught her breath, frowning as she recovered from the strain. “A large amount of dark magic’s being used – I think it’s Bonnie, I need to go.” Just then, her phone that had been placed haphazardly on the coffee table buzzed, showing Rebekah’s name flashing urgently. It had to have been an emergency if Rebekah was calling _her._ Exchanging a quick panicked glance with Elijah, she answered straight away.

“Bekah?”

“Lissie, please, you _have_ to come help. Elena just bit April Young’s neck-”

Sending a brief nod to a disappointed Elijah, she was pulling herself to Rebekah’s signature with a flash. They were inside a tent or a gazebo of some sort and Matt was on the ground, putting pressure desperately on the young girl’s neck. Rebekah stood worriedly over the pair. A relieved smile filled Matt’s face as he registered her arrival. “Thank God you’re here Lissie.”

Annalise was kneeling on the damp ground in seconds, placing her hands over April Young’s neck, channelling healing magic into the large gaping wound. The skin stitched together quickly, and as it did, Annalise looked sadly up at Rebekah, clearing her throat. Rebekah’s relieved expression dropped on seeing Lis’ sombre gaze.

“I know you didn’t heal the girl yourself because of the challenge Elijah gave you for the day, but I think I should tell you that he was next to me when you called.” Rebekah’s face fell in understanding.

“So he knows I didn’t use _my_ powers, but I still used the supernatural. I failed, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t fail, Bekah. You saved her life.” Annalise grabbed Matt’s offered hand and let him help her up with a small smile, before turning to Rebekah sadly as Matt then lifted the unconscious young girl into a sitting position. Rebekah frowned.

“No, you were right. I _hated_ being weak, not being able to help, do anything.”

Lis squeezed her friend’s shoulder tightly. “There’s nothing more human than that, Rebekah. We all wish we were stronger.”

Bonnie’s dark magic flared once more in the distance, this time, it was feeling a whole lot less controlled than before. She looked towards Rebekah quickly. “I need to go, Bonnie’s in trouble.” In her hurry, she didn’t see Rebekah’s face sour. If she had, she'd have realised Rebekah had missed her just as much as Lis had missed her. 

Instead, she was teleporting to a field beside the school carpark the next second.

She was not prepared for the sight that awaited her.

Bonnie’s face had darkened in shadow, grim and blank, watching with dull eyes as the power of Expression whipped around her in frenzy and reduced Elena to her knees, choking. The currently emotionless vampire’s limbs had been broken and bent in unnatural directions. Car alarms wailed around them, creating a cacophony that only added to the chaos at hand.

The Salvatores stood slightly back, braced, clearly worried out of their minds for Elena but unsure how to stop Bonnie’s unhinged power. Stefan had resorted to pleading. “Bonnie, please. This is the magic talking. This is your best friend.”

“Bonnie.” Annalise spoke up, drawing teen’s blank attention to herself. She kept her voice steady. “Are you in control?”

As she spoke, she edged slowly past the brothers and Elena grimacing on the ground, until she was an arm’s length away from the young witch.

Bonnie nodded slightly; a bit of fear had come into her unfocused eyes. “Lissie. I-I think I am.”

Annalise raised her arms slowly up to Bonnie’s shoulders, but didn’t touch the witch’s skin. The dark magic lashing around her unsettled her so much that she felt bile rise in her throat. This was the most dark magic the witch had ever emitted. This was going to be brutal. Annalise made sure she looked into Bonnie’s eyes directly. “Would you like me to help?”

Bonnie shamefully nodded slightly, Annalise tried not to let the complete dread she felt leech into her expression, and instead, smiled in what she believed to be a reassuring manner. “Okay, that's okay. Ready, sweetie?”

Bonnie nodded shakily, and at once, Annalise planted her hands heavily on the young witch.

A high-pitched ringing filled her ears as she felt the magic erupt inward and tear into her veins. Her vision blacked-out with the sheer amount of pain that overloaded her senses as the magic rushed through her, brushing harshly past her heart and into the ground below. All too soon, her vision returned, she felt light, too light. Unburdened, but _angry._

Bonnie’s bright green eyes were back to their normal expressive selves, and Annalise realised that the girl had been supporting her as she had folded in on herself in agony. She gasped, trying to catch her breath.

Why was she so fucking _weak?!_

A rustle came from behind them, drawing her attention to Damon and Stefan who were both giving her _stupid_ pity looks - but Elena…Elena was smirking dangerously, staggering to her feet, her eyes trained on Bonnie.

Annalise felt her eyes narrow.

This bitch was gonna do something stupid, she _just knew._

Elena suddenly lunged hatefully towards the witch behind her, but froze in mid-air, before letting out a short scream at feeling her bones break rapidly. She fell to the ground, unconscious, with a heavy thud. Annalise smirked darkly.

Bonnie nudged her, gesturing to her ring glinting in the moonlight.

Lis reached for its magic hesitantly, and the dark fog lifted from her mind infinitesimally as she squeezed Bonnie’s hand back. Looking back, she saw Stefan look at Elena, then back at her. Annalise huffed, making the same connection.

“Hey, Stef. Remember when I did this to you as soon as you turned your switch off in that cafeteria? You gotta appreciate the irony here.”

Stefan smirked warily and nodded as Damon studied her closely. He hadn’t met her hopped up on dark magic before like Stefan had. “You okay, Glinda? Or should we start calling you Elphaba?”

Annalise tossed him a loose grin that was just a touch too wide, too sarcastic. “You know what? Knock yourself out. Literally.”

Bonnie tugged at Annalise’s sweater paw in warning; and Annalise could tell Bonnie was more than ready to get back home. Fine. Baby-sitting duty was arduous, but nothing that flat-out annoyed her yet. Not like the Salvatores at any rate.

She nodded to the brothers in farewell. “Looks like Bonnie’s ready to go. Stay outta trouble, and good luck,” she gestured at Elena still crumpled on the ground, teeth bared. “...with all _that.”_

With that, Bonnie and Annalise blinked out of sight.

-

Annalise had just stepped out onto the porch of the Bennett house, looking out into the peaceful night. Well, that's only sort of correct if peaceful meant empty. The streets were definitely empty - but that might've been because of the large, pregnant rainclouds over head, accompanied but the presence of a cold front descending on Mystic Falls. This may or may not have been her fault, but at this point, she didn't give a damn.

Bonnie had just finished catching her up on the fact that Silas had been coming to her dreams as Jeremy, and she was angrier than ever because the slimy, no-good cunning man had changed tactics. Tried to subliminally influence Bonnie.

That little _fucker._

As Annalise walked down the garden path getting lost in her own anger, she felt the bushes thicken, the flowers bloom wider. A cold wind howled past her, angrily, reflecting her fury.

She was still jittery with the excess Expression _,_ evidenced by how her fingers were tapping uncontrollably against her crossed arms as she elected to walk home slowly. Her judgement might've been clouded by her fury, but even she knew there was no _way_ she was teleporting home in this state, not when she currently contained the most dark magic she’d ever drained from Bonnie. Not when one bad quip from Nik, one judgemental look from Elijah, or one glare from Bekah might have her hurting them.

At times like this, she felt truly _under-appreciated._ Flashes of the day passed before her eyes, pausing significantly on Rebekah’s snide comment. “… _that’s all you are, right? All talk and no results.”_

_Fucking useless._

The wind howled louder, and she looked up from her feet, feeling strange. It felt as though something had drawn her here subconsciously. She was in a suburban area, the houses around her were neat, domestic and picture-perfect; all bar one.

She stood in front of the charred remains of what must have been a beautiful house; but now, reduced to only a few blackened walls, surrounded by meagre foundations of a house and dead grass. It felt chillingly familiar.

“Strange, isn’t it?”

Her heart stuttered in her chest as she heard a familiar mischievous masculine drawl come from right next to her. She found herself clenching her eyes _shut- it can’t be him; it can’t be him, it can’t-_

“Gotta say, Lissa. I was awfully disappointed to hear that you gave up trying to get me back-”

“I didn’t give up.” She hissed, feeling a frustrated tear run down her cheek. “I _didn’t._ I’ll find another way, but I can’t let a _child_ sacrifice her life to bring you back to life. I _fucking can’t.”_

“Hmm.” She felt Kol lean in closer to her side – flinched as she felt his warm breath hit her ear as he whispered. “Pity, then. I guess I’ll be another symbol of your failure, like this house is, or at least what’s left of it.”

Her eyes flew open, but she still continued to look straight at the burnt remains. “What…Ho-How’s this my fault?”

“Let’s start by thinking of all the little girls you failed to protect, then see if any of them had a little brother they lost along the way, making them lose their humanity. Ringing any bells yet? _”_

Fuck…this was the _Gilbert House._

Blood drained from her face as she recollected coming here for the first time, watching Elena and Alaric mess around trying to make lunch for a rebellious Jeremy. When she'd eaten breakfast cross-legged on its dining table, and when she'd held Kol as he laid dying in the kitchen. 

“Ahh…that’s right. I see you made the connection. Little Elena Gilbert. She tugged on your little heart strings as soon as you saw her, didn’t she? Reminded you of your childhood friend. Of _Them_ too – they saw you for who you really were. Had the right idea when they told you to leave.”

Kol shifted, kicking a stray pebble away even as Lis choked back a sob.

“Then of course; you also let me die here.”

“No, no I _didn’t_ -”

“You did, don’t deny it. You teleported me here, then _helped_ them kill me.”

Tears were running freely down her face, and anger simmered under her skin. She felt Kol grin. “You’re not even denying it anymore; the guilt and self-loathing you feel must be astronomical. Think of how happy you’ll be when you get me back. So just drop the veil and let me come back to life, _darling.”_

Wait.

Annalise’s eyes narrowed as she flared her senses. All of a sudden, a new type of hatred flooded her senses, and she found herself looking at Kol, but _seeing_ the shadow of someone else within the illusion.

“ _Silas.”_

Not-Kol shrugged, smirking smugly. Annalise found herself chuckling darkly. “Gotta say, _mate._ Your timing’s real shitty...”

Silas’s eyes narrowed as he realised the wooden shutters and the flimsy picket fences were struggling in the howling wind that had picked up, related to the glow started emitting from her skin. She finished her quip with a sharp smirk. “… _for you.”_

Her anger surged as she finally _let go_ like Silas once wanted her to. Her magic exploded out of her in an unfocused pulse that sent car alarms blaring and dogs barking. Clouds swelled above her in response, and all too soon, they were drenched to their bones as the heavens opened.

This was nothing less than an afterthought, however, because Lis found herself following the fleeing immortal’s energy signature through the suburbs, flashing in and out; her sharp flares of silver after-light of teleportation accentuated by the blinding streaks of lightning stretching through the sky. Annalise felt as though she rode the lightning, in the way her magic buzzed and burned beneath her skin, the downpour helped cool her down.

All too soon, the chase stopped – they were in the middle of the woods, and Silas was regarding her panting, angry demeanour and silver eyes with clinical interest, and Lis chillingly realised that he hadn’t been running from her.

He had _lured_ her here.

He raised his arms wide. “Feel the power running through your veins, Annalise. _This,”_ He gestured to the swaying trees and the resulting clap of thunder echoing through the clouds above as he yelled. “This, is what you’re capable of.”

Annalise wasn’t in the mood to small talk – she clenched her fist and jerked it towards him on instinct. He lunged to the side, barely missing the bolt of lightning that had come from her outstretched hand.

The Expression left her body, concentrated in that lightning strike, and it had left her exhausted and wary. The wind didn’t ease up however, nor the rain.

The lightning hadn’t inspired fear in Silas like she had hoped. No, he was chuckling loudly in disbelief.

“I made a mistake.” Annalise watched him climb to his feet gleefully, feeling very confused. “I thought that you were Gaia – that you had her powers. But I was _wrong_.”

He continued chuckling, approaching her slowly. “Do you know what Gaia always complained about when she was growing up? She hated how their parents had managed to name her and her sister so literally.”

Annalise lowered her hand tiredly, unable to do anything other than listen to him speak. “Her parents named her Gaia – ‘ _of the Earth.’_ She felt a connection to the ground beneath her, that I feel no one could ever put into words. Dear Cael on the other hand; quiet little thing, also suited her name well; had her little prophetic dreams, and always had her head in the metaphorical clouds. You see,”

Silas pulled Annalise close by her arms, grip unrelenting even as she struggled weakly in his grip. “…little Caelesti means ‘ _of the heavens’._ Suitable really, isn’t it, when you can shoot bolts of lightning out of your hands.” The wide ecstatic grin stretched on Kol’s face unsettled her. “You, my dear, are a descendent of Cael blessed with the power of Gaia, the one true deity. _”_

Annalise sagged tiredly in his hold. “I don’t feel like a deity.”

Silas laughed loudly, throwing his head back in unrestrained amusement. Annalise distantly wondered if Kol had ever laughed the way he just had. “Of course, you don’t. Because you aren’t one.”

A confused expression flitted across Annalise’s face. “The book - the book said that I had the powers of Gaia, that I was- _What am I_?” Her voice broke, and she realised it wasn't just rain that was wetting her face.

“Like I said. You’re a smart cookie. You’ll figure it out.” Silas let her go gently, brushing the wet strands of unruly hair plastered to her face behind her ears, eerily familiar to how Kol had casually brushed bubbles out of her hair especially considering that was who Silas was still _dressed_ as. But this movement didn’t make her heart beat faster. No – it felt comforting…familial, almost.

Silas stepped back, that gleeful glint in his eye sparkled in the darkness of the night. Annalise shifted uncomfortably because the expression looked all too unnatural on Kol’s face.

He tilted his head, watching her confused and conflicting expression as he grinned. “Your friend _Nik_ succeeded in getting me the cure tonight – it was a very convoluted plan, getting me to act as his sister in front of naïve old Elijah, but all’s well that ends well. I’ve got everything I need now. Rest assured your questionable choice of a _best friend_ will continue to live unbothered.” He patted her shoulder, as he walked past her. “Best hurry home now, Lissie, before you catch a cold in this horrible weather.”

As she watched Silas blur into the distance, she reached for the familiar feel of her ring, curling into her soaked jumper with a shiver, before teleporting to her room.

Today had been all kinds of fucked up, and she was just about ready for a coma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? Was it good? I know I told you this chapter would answer your questions but now I'm scared it left you with more lollll. Plus, anyone remember the 'feelings' that Annalise has had throughout the book ;))))
> 
> Oh, and quick note - while I've been revising my older chapters, I promise I haven't been changing anything big, but I have been adding in little Easter eggs for what might await Annalise in the very distant future (possibly in a second book? ;)) so I'll tell you guys when I've updated everything so you could go back and read it again in one go only if you want to.  
> I'm sorry if you don't want to read the whole book again though - I promise its literally tiny little plot points and statements that I'll have fun unravelling in the future so you're not missing anything if you don't. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!!


	34. She's Come Undone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These past few weeks have been beyond horrible, and I'm so sorry I missed the update last week. I really fought to bring this chapter to you guys, but I'm not really too happy with how it turned out, but maybe the length will make up for it. I do genuinely have a direction I'm heading with the story now, so I really do hope everyone sticks it through.   
> Again, I am extremely sorry.   
> Warnings: Strong language, graphic depictions of canon-typical violence.   
> Without further delay, enjoy!

It was safe to say that Annalise was angry, and it  _ wasn’t  _ because of any residual dark magic left in her system from nearly a  _ month _ ago. 

Nope, only a certain blond hybrid was responsible for her sour mood. 

Annalise had walked home that night, soaked and miserable, ready to talk to Nik about her confrontation with Silas. To plan ahead, because she knew if anyone could outsmart Silas, it would be him. 

Only, he hadn’t been there. 

An empty house had greeted her return. 

She’d never forget the fear that had gripped her very soul when she’d found the mansion deserted, the lights still on, but devoid of life. Annalise had frozen in terror, mind racing a mile a minute, dreading that this had all been Silas’ attempt to pull the rug out from under her feet when he had just promised he’d leave Nik alone.  Her phone ringing had burst her from her paralysed state, and she had nearly dropped it in her hurry to answer the call. It was then she’d found out that Elijah was following Nik to New Orleans of all places. He had left without warning. 

That had been nearly three weeks ago. 

The days since had been long, tiring, and  _ quiet.  _ Annalise couldn’t bear to spend another second in the hauntingly hollow mansion - not when it was a shell of what it had once been. Now it was a memorial of sorts, for the hybrids, for Mindy, and most recently, the Original family. The awe she had once experienced as she had gaped up at the sweeping grand staircase and ceilings that reached the sky was now replaced with bitterness. 

They had moved on without her. 

Maybe dealing with loss becomes easier with age. She hated that it still hurt her.

Their absence was only made bearable by the one constant companion she had gained in light of those she had lost. Bonnie.

The young witch had distanced herself from her friends after her brief lapse in control at the prom all those nights ago. Since then, she had remained at Lis' side. It was her that had gotten righteously angry at Silas on Annalise’s behalf once she’d recounted their meeting to her the next day, not the people she’d come to regard as her family. 

Annalise sometimes couldn’t help but wish it were the other way around anyway. 

But thinking that was unfair. Especially when Bonnie genuinely cared for her, and her frustration and empathy on her behalf had left Annalise rendered speechless on the Bennett couch, tears collecting in her eyes. Especially when Bonnie had taken one look at the weak smile she’d tried to conjure up afterwards, and had grown so furious she’d left the house in simmering fury.  Bonnie hadn’t let Annalise lay a finger on her to calm her down, even as her Expression slammed the door behind her so hard that the entire house shook.

Mayor Hopkins had looked to Annalise worriedly then, and all she had to offer was a helpless shrug before running after the young girl herself. 

An empty road greeted her, and it was then Annalise knew that Bonnie had grown to know her well.  She’d managed to hide her magic from Lis’ senses until almost daybreak. 

Annalise had anxiously waited for hours sitting on the porch stairs until Bonnie finally walked exhaustedly up to her with a tired but relieved smile.  The night’s darkness had been lifting, lightening, and it had seemed Bonnie was lighter too. She’d turned to Annalise as she’d slumped down next to her, head carefully placed on Lis’ covered shoulder. 

“I tracked him down, Lissie. I saw his true face.” Bonnie’s voice carried her grin even as she cringed in disgust next to her. “It was horrible and scarred and I’m going to have nightmares about it for the rest of my life.” She let out a low chuckle, almost afraid to break the silence that the twilight offered. “But it means he can’t see into my head anymore. He can’t make me see things, make me do things. We can fight him now.” 

And Annalise had shared Bonnie’s happy grin, wrapping an arm around her and drawing the girl into a tight hug. 

In any other situation, she would’ve worried about anyone using that type of dark magic. The same kind that had driven her parents, and countless other witches to death. But this was  _ Bonnie _ , and she had  _ grown _ . Annalise trusted that she knew her limits, and that she knew control – at least, better than anyone else Annalise had met in her travels. 

Bonnie was truly one talented witch. 

When the young witch had finally fallen asleep on her shoulder as the stars in the sky winked goodbye, Lis had deposited her into her bed with a quick spell, and then walked to the guest bedroom that the Bennett’s had offered up so kindly. It was when she’d been tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep when the world was waking up outside, that she realised that  _ this _ – doing  _ nothing  _ and letting her thoughts consume her, was probably going to drive her crazy before Silas would. 

That was when she’d thrown herself into her work, and research. She’d remembered how Nik, Elijah’s, and even Rebekah’s faces had fallen when she’d said getting Kol back would be more complicated than she initially thought. Bringing their brother back when they finally return might just be a good welcome-back present to smooth over everything. 

Lis had been optimistic back then. 

That day she had finally returned to the mansion, covered all the furniture with heavy blankets, and swallowed her nerves as she made her way down right to the end of the second-floor hallway. 

Unlike the rest of the house, there wasn’t any dust in her room – her spells had been holding strong. The windchimes tinkled in melancholy as Annalise pulled the window shut, and ran a finger along the hairline crack that marred her otherwise perfect room. Fixing it would have required no effort at all, but Annalise hadn’t had it in her to get rid of the small imperfection. Not when it carried one of the last memories she had of him. 

Anyway. 

That had been three weeks ago. 

Since then, she hadn’t heard a word from Nik, Elijah, or even Rebekah. Lis knew while the brothers were out of town that Rebekah had stayed behind in Mystic Falls. She knew because she felt her - felt her signature flit around town, in the grill, and around Matt. Annalise had given up on trying to approach her a week in when she got tired of being greeted by displaced air as Rebekah sped away, accompanied by Matt’s pitying expression. 

She had been suddenly and inexplicably been abandoned by the people that she’d come to regard as family – and Annalise felt betrayed. Betrayed because no matter how many times she ran that night over and over in her mind, she couldn’t put her finger on where she had gone wrong, what she had said, or done that helped them decide that  _ she wasn’t worth it.  _

And this wasn’t the first time it had happened either; it was the third. The first had been her parents, the second…well. That was a time in her life that was better off forgotten.

It turns out this new wound had opened old scars she’d thought had healed.

Which brought her to now. 

Annalise was angry. Beyond done. At Nik, at Silas, at Bekah - at everything. But she was putting on a playful front as she mock-scowled at Bonnie. 

“So, you’re kicking me out?” 

“You know it’s not like that, Lissie.” Bonnie rolled her eyes, hiding an amused grin as she leaned against her hallway. “You know you can’t know everything. You’ve been amazing these past few weeks, but only my thoughts are protected from him. He can’t know what I’m doing.” 

“Then I’ll make him show me his face too.” Annalise shrugged lightly, as if she  _ hadn’t  _ been seriously thinking about doing that exact thing during her every waking moment for the last three weeks. 

Bonnie groaned out loud in frustration before grabbing Lis’ hand and hauling her out onto the front porch. 

“No, okay? I’ve told you before. Don’t go looking for him. You were right and I was wrong. He doesn’t care about you. He never did. Just stay out of his way, and  _ please _ stay safe.” Her bright green eyes grew serious as she pleaded, making Lis pause. Bonnie’s gaze held a weight that Lis didn’t expect in their light-hearted conversation. Her grin slipped slowly off her face as she crossed her arms. 

“Okay, yeah. Fine.” Annalise scuffed her boot on the ground before taking a small step back and squinting at her. “What did Silas say to you that night?” 

“Nothing important.” Bonnie dismissed too quickly, making Annalise narrow her eyes in suspicion. Bonnie noticed, and quickly tried to reassure her. “Okay? I swear. He doesn’t care about you.” 

Annalise lingered, still unsure, but Bonnie let out a forced laugh, and pushed her lightly down the porch stairs. “Just go, okay? I’ll call you if I need help. Promise.” 

Lis studied her carefully, noting how the witch could no longer meet her own eyes, and felt her anger bubble even more. Annalise’s hand clenched tighter around her duffel’s handles as she wondered what on _earth_ had happened the night Bonnie confronted Silas and why she was forced out of the loop _yet again_. Annalise wanted to yell in frustration, stomp her feet and  _ demand  _ answers, but watching Bonnie stiffen uncomfortably under her searching gaze had Annalise biting back her words. Exhaling slowly, she reluctantly nodded and stepped away. 

She’d let this go for now. 

“Right, then. See you around Bon.” 

The young witch nodded with a small relieved smile before waving and shutting the front door behind her. 

Annalise let her smile drop. She barely noticed flowers droop on the pavement and bushes lose their colour as she glumly made her way back to the mansion, hands clenched in the pockets of her cardigan. Her thoughts inadvertently wandered to Silas.  Annalise wasn’t going to admit to anyone much less herself that she missed being able to focus her anger on him, and hate him for everything she was going through. Silas probably knew who she was,  _ what  _ she was, and he was keeping all of that from her. 

Now even he wasn’t around and she was left with more questions than she’d ever had.

Lis wondered melodramatically if she’d ever have willing company again. She didn’t want to be alone. Not now, not when she had recurring nightmares of seeing Kol, as clear as day, only to realise it  _ wasn’t  _ her friend. Not when Annalise was questioning her magic, her past, and her very  _ being  _ to the point she no longer knew who she was. Not when she felt power _ less _ and use _ less  _ and just  _ less  _ than she wanted to be. 

Well, they say you should be careful what you wish for. 

As she turned down the side of the street caught up in her own thoughts, a pair of heeled footsteps joined her soundless black combat boots. 

She turned lazily to look at the vampire next to her, raising an eyebrow.  Elena? No.  Unless she’d escaped the Salvatore therapy session to get back her humanity, and gotten rid of the almost obnoxiously bright red streak in her hair, this was Katherine.

She smirked in amusement at Annalise’s flat expression of greeting. “You look like you’ve been through hell, honey.” 

Great. This was what she’d been missing. Judgement, somehow mixed in with complete apathy. Annalise rolled her eyes hard. “What do you want Katherine?” 

“I heard through the grapevine that you came to my defence against dear old Klaus. I wouldn’t think our little time together would’ve made such an impact on you.” 

“It didn’t. You held me against a wall and let Mikael nearly punch a hole through me. Not a great first impression.” Lis shrugged, feeling a hot breeze nudge past her, making her light sundress flutter. “Look, Elijah trusted you. That’s good enough for me.” 

Annalise felt Katherine’s studying stare pierce into the side of her face, and casually ignored it in favour of thinking ahead to what she could do today now that she had all this free time. She nearly missed it when Katherine started talking again, voice heavy with contemplation. 

“You really are all that, aren’t you?” Lis looked back at the vampire, eyebrow cocked at her vague statement. Katherine didn’t bother to clarify. “Why do you stay? They’ve left you behind, let you be. Not a lot of people get that opportunity. You could run anywhere you wanted to. I’ll even show you around. We could survive together, travel the world.” 

“I’m not some minion you can just recruit Katherine.” An amused snort escaped Lis at Katherine’s sad attempt at a sales pitch. “I’d like to think my days of  _ just _ surviving are over, so I’m just gonna politely decline.” 

Katherine’s persuasive smile dimmed into a vaguely disappointed one as she looked away shrugging. “Well, can’t blame a girl for trying.” 

“Sure.” Annalise huffed, grinning for a moment before it dropped. “What are you even doing here?” 

Katherine was smirking brightly once more, nudging her shoulder playfully as they walked. “What? Little ol’ me can’t enjoy your company for no reason?” 

“Cute.” Annalise grinned more genuinely at Katherine’s theatrics. “If you’re honest with me, I might be willing to give you a chance. Prove Elijah right, and all that.” 

“Fine.” Her smile dropped. “I figured you’d be a good person to be next to, considering I roll into town only to find that we have a psychopath on the loose who can appear as anyone. You’re more interesting than Bennett at any rate.” 

“Not so sure about that.” Annalise frowned at the pavement, kicking a stray pebble aside lightly. She hadn’t really wanted to be alone in the first place, but was she  _ really  _ desperate enough to say yes to Katherine’s company? “I was gonna go back to the mansion, do research. It’s gonna be boring – you sure you wanna come along?” 

“Research about what?” 

“About  _ me.”  _ Speak of the devil. Kol’s familiar voice had Annalise spinning on her heel, ready to catapult him back into the front yard of a nearby suburban home. Silas put both hands up in surrender immediately as he chuckled, eyes bright.

“Ah, ah ah. Not a great idea unless you want the neighbourhood watch to see us. Mortals can be such horrible gossips, y’know? I’m really trying to save you the trouble here.” 

Annalise felt Katherine move closer behind her as she reluctantly lowered her arms, still scowling darkly at him. Silas smirked, however, gesturing down at himself. “Though I did see that hesitation in your eye. Wonder what it says about you that you weren’t willing to kill me in this body.” The grin on Kol’s face made Annalise glower at him.

“It says that I’m not dumb enough to waste my effort trying to kill an immortal, no matter how satisfying it might feel.” Lis glared. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Why? You miss me Lissie?” He smirked when all she did was roll her eyes. “Well, I was warned to stay away from you, but now I see Bonnie’s communication skills are subpar with everyone, not just me.” Silas shrugged, walking closer. “But uh...waste your effort, huh? That’s certainly not what you were thinking when you threw lighting at me.” 

“I was having a bad day.” Annalise bit out sarcastically, mind still caught on the fact that Bonnie had been the one to keep Silas off her radar. Was that what the witch was hiding from her?

“You don’t say? More like a bad month, right? Bad year?” Annalise squinted, wondering where Silas was going with this line of thought as he chuckled. “That’s right, isn’t it? I heard Klaus found you...hmm...was it last August? It’s nearly July now, and hey, your 21 st birthday’s in two days!”  Silas threw his hands up in the air in exclamation, before lowering them and speaking more seriously as she wavered. Annalise hadn’t realised. “They left you all alone, and yet you’re still pathetically hoping they’re going to come back for you.” 

“I don’t need to listen to this.” 

Silas appeared in front of Annalise as she turned around in anger. “Oh, but you do. He isn’t your friend, Lissie.  _ Never was.  _ He was using you. They were all using you.” 

“Yeah?” Annalise cocked a challenging eyebrow, putting on a brave front. “Exactly  _ how  _ are they using me when they haven’t reached out for help at all?”  Well, that was a pathetic retort. Silas knew too. Her damp eyes narrowed dangerously at the all too familiar expression now on Kol’s face; his smug smirk, hiding the concerned tilt of his heavy brow. She scowled harder in frustration. “What the  _ hell  _ do you want, Silas?” 

The wind picked up, and she heard a dog start barking in the distance. 

His smirk turned threatening as his eyes glinted sharply. “Well. I kept up my end of the bargain. I didn’t bother you, but you see, Bonnie isn’t keeping her word. I haven’t heard from her in nearly a week now. I’d really  _ hate  _ to lose your cooperation when the full moon is only days away.” 

“She’s working. Hard.” Annalise frowned, thinking back to the last few weeks of practicing magic with Bonnie and familiarising themselves with the spell required to drop the veil, and then Bonnie disappearing to some unknown location to practice some more. Silas grinned. 

“Pity you don’t know where she disappears. But I do see you’ve both realised that your magic offers her the clarity to perform the spell, to make sure it doesn’t overwhelm her. Smart cookie.”

“Stay out of my head.” Annalise hissed as she glared at the almost proud crinkle to his eyes - looking so  _ impossibly  _ similar to Kol when she’d managed to perform magic again. Judging by Silas tilting his head up slightly, he hadn’t listened to her command. She needed to change the subject. 

“So, you want to use the full moon. It’s happening this weekend?” Annalise knew her distraction worked as Silas nodded once, eyes glinting in anticipation. She heard Katherine shift behind her as Silas approached them, smiling eagerly. 

“Yes. That is, as long as my lovely little minions are still on track?” 

Lis sighed, rubbing at her brow. The lump in her throat reduced. “Yeah, Silas. We’re still on track. Honestly can’t wait to help you die. Literally counting down the days here. Jumping for joy.” She deadpanned. 

Silas grinned, spreading his arms wide. “Perfect. Exactly what I want to hear." He ruffled her hair as he walked past her, messing up her already loose braid. She slapped his hand away with a glower. "Feisty. Oh, and do tell dear Bonnie to stop hiding from me, it’s unbecoming.” 

With that, Silas walked away down the street, whistling a jaunty tune. 

Without glancing back, she promptly grabbed Katherine’s arm, and teleported them to her favourite study in the Mikaelson mansion. It was the only room in the entire house that looked lived in. Papers and books were spread all over the coffee table and couch, and empty cups of coffee littered the room – her laptop sat neatly in the middle of all the organised chaos. 

Annalise heard the scrape of heels as Katherine stumbled, slightly disoriented after her first time teleporting, and watched as she then sat herself down on a small area of free space on the couch. 

"Sorry, I just had to get out of there." Annalise shot her a grateful nod for not messing up her research, missing Katherine's almost shocked reaction to her apology as she'd promptly sat on the ground in front of her laptop and started typing.

This had been her routine for the better part of the last few weeks. Minus Katherine of course. Research and practice with Bonnie, then whenever the young witch would disappear to her secret place to scheme and plot, Annalise would come here. 

The study offered Annalise a nostalgic comfort that wasn’t quite as painful as her bedroom. This had been where she had first reached a friendship of sorts with Kol after Damon had snapped his neck, and this had also been where he’d helped her when she’d been regaining her magic after the medallion. 

He’d helped her search for a few meditation techniques from a witch he’d run into on his travels - a cure of sorts to get back in touch with your magic. A technique that Annalise felt he’d exhausted as she’d watched his dark gaze stare into the unlit fireplace, as if he was searching for something he too had lost. Annalise had gripped Kol’s hand tightly in support then, squeezing it once. He’d returned from his thoughts, sure, but he’d been in a sombre mood until Annalise had managed to conjure a small flame in her hands. It had only been then that he’d smirked, so familiarly and  _ smugly _ as he’d retorted he had known all along it would work. 

Annalise returned to the present, noticing how Katherine seemed to sag into the sofa and remain miraculously quiet as she worked. She watched as the vampire’s eyes discreetly flicked to the fireplace, to the metal pokers on their stand next to it, then the pens scattered on the coffee table. 

Lis wondered what she was up to, but deep down, she appreciated the company. Or at least the fact that she wasn’t completely alone. 

The pair sat in mutual silence - Katherine perusing her notes inquisitively from time to time, while Annalise cross-referenced her tomes because when it came to necromancy and reanimation spells, you couldn’t afford a margin of error. 

It was a while before her phone buzzed, startling them both. 

“What’s up Bon?” 

“I have an  _ idea!”  _ Bonnie’s excited squeal rushed her words together as Katherine raised a brow at her, looking up from the papers she had been casually studying. Annalise ignored the judgemental look levelled in her direction, instead smiling to herself at Bonnie’s renewed enthusiasm. “It’s crazy,  _ really  _ crazy, and I’m gonna need your help, but I think it’s gonna work!” 

“That’s great, B. I have faith in you.” Annalise stood slowly from her hunched position on the floor, stretching her spine. “Do you need me to come back? I can be there in a couple seconds-” 

“No!” Annalise physically felt Bonnie wince at herself for how loud she sounded. “No, I’m sorry. That was rude. I’m still sorting everything out, but I do need to meet with Katherine this afternoon.” 

“Katherine?” Annalise echoed as the woman in question raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “She’s with me now. Why do you need her?” 

“Reasons.” Bonnie said cryptically. “She’s with you? Why?” 

“Reasons.” Annalise grinned as she heard Bonnie’s exasperated giggle before she sobered. 

“Fine. Tell her to meet me at the grill now. And Lissie?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’m gonna need you at your best, tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? But the moon, Silas said two days, he’s looking for you-”

“Tomorrow, Lissie.” 

Ah. She understood enough.

“Fine. See you tomorrow, Bon.”

-

As night fell, Katherine left to meet with Bonnie, then returned. She hadn’t said a word to Annalise about why Bonnie wanted to meet her, and Lis hadn’t asked. 

She trusted Bonnie enough to tell her what she needed to know when she needed to know it, but that didn’t mean she hated it any less.

The fire now crackled warmly, and she had just begun to sort of enjoy Katherine’s company and her occasional snarky commentary. It felt like the mansion was no longer as stiflingly empty as it was before. That is until…

“You sure you want to do this? Raise Kol?” Katherine joked, but her voice still carried an undercurrent of fear. “I can think of a million reasons why you shouldn’t, and that’s all just his death toll.” 

“Because you’re the epitome of all that’s good, right Kat?”

“Right.” Katherine rolled her eyes, choosing to inspect her nails. “I just thought you’d know better seeing as you’re one of the more competent humans I’ve met in my life.” 

“Oh my.” Annalise clutched at her chest in mock wonder. “Is that a compliment from the great Katherine Pierce?” 

Katherine flicked a pen at her. “Then again, you do choose questionable company.” She gestured to the house around her. 

“Present company included.” Annalise glared slightly.

“Well, it appears you have a habit of befriending people who’d leave you in the dust without a second thought. At least I’m upfront about it.” 

The lump in her throat returned suddenly, and she cleared it, making a show of turning back to her work. Lis felt Katherine’s eyes on her, then saw her open her mouth to say something. 

Annalise beat her to it. 

“I  _ swear,  _ if you say something about-”

“No, I…” Katherine denied almost immediately, then paused, trying to find her words. “You really don’t know what’s happening in New Orleans?” 

Annalise felt a wet chuckle harshly tear out of her throat as she shook her head. Katherine hummed to herself even as her eyes remained sharply set on Annalise’s expression. “Klaus got Hayley pregnant. Elijah left me to go protect them.” 

Annalise’s mind screeched to a halt as she owlishly blinked at Katherine.

“Nik, got Hayley-  _ what? How-”  _

“He’s the first hybrid - half werewolf. It’s some technicality. The witches had a field day; the gossips. Apparently, there was a shift in the magic of nature or something stupid. Naturally, the witches feel threatened.” 

Annalise felt her breath catch when her mind quickly flashed to a recent memory – she was with Silas, on the day they’d first met at Bonnie’s when she felt a disturbance in nature, like something  _ new  _ had come into being. Like nature had expanded to accommodate it.

Nik had called soon after, talking about Hayley…no way. 

But also…Ew. 

That’s the trouble with the witches that Elijah had mentioned then. She never did like the French Quarter Coven. That said, it hurt so much more than she’d like to admit that they hadn’t called, even  _ texted _ , since they’d left. 

And Rebekah. 

She had thought that since she healed April Young on Senior Prom night that she’d be back to being her friend, but she'd been proved very wrong. Rebekah had seen Annalise in the grill discussing Silas with Bonnie the very next day, and since then, the blonde had turned her nose up and avoided her like the plague. Elijah hadn’t called back either – not after he let her know that he was going to sort out whatever it is that Nik was doing in New Orleans. 

Silas was right. It was approaching a year now since Nik had rescued her, and for most of that year she hadn’t regretted her decision  _ once,  _ because it helped her find  _ her _ people. But now, all Annalise felt was bitterness and self-doubt. 

Was she really that easy to discard? 

Annalise didn’t see Katherine flinch in surprise as the fire behind her roared louder. A child that threatens the balance of nature would be worth at least a quick text, wouldn’t it? A magical child, feared by witches - Annalise related to that on a level beyond personal. 

A phone buzzed again, this time, Katherine answered.

“Hello Damon,” Her entire demeanor changed as she practically purred her reply, making Annalise curl her lips down in disgust. “This is certainly unexpected.” 

Katherine’s grin only grew wider hearing whatever it was that Damon said. She said yes, almost immediately, and hung up. She then stood, looking towards Annalise expectantly. “Well, are you coming?” 

Annalise blinked tiredly at her and Katherine put her hands on her hips impatiently before rolling her eyes. “I forget you can’t hear everything. Damon wants my help torturing Elena back her humanity. You coming or not? It’d do you some good. This place is just plain depressing.” 

Maybe a change of scenery  _ would _ do her some good. She hadn’t seen the brothers and Elena since Senior Prom; and she’d liked it that way. It wasn’t as if they’d tried to contact her either, so she didn’t feel rude or anything.  Honestly, it was Elena that she had trouble facing. She couldn’t look at the girl without feeling entirely too responsible, especially since Silas had shown her the burnt down Gilbert house. But, maybe helping get Elena’s humanity back might help. 

Annalise nodded, standing to place the pile of papers she had been studying carefully on the sofa in a hurry, but drew her hand away with a quick hiss of pain. 

A papercut. 

Out of habit, Annalise stuck her finger into her mouth. 

Turning abruptly as she felt the air displace behind her, Annalise startled back when she found Katherine suffocatingly close, offering her a tissue.  Annalise looked at her strangely before proceeding to awkwardly take her finger out of her mouth and channel her magic into healing her cut. 

“Huh. How handy.” Katherine stepped backwards, shrugging in feigned disinterest before sauntering out of the room without a care. 

Annalise narrowed her eyes watching leave. She knew this wasn’t her inner paranoia talking when her instincts screamed that that was  _ very  _ suspicious. She was right before. It seemed Katherine did have other motives for sticking around.

Annalise hurried after her. 

After all, she  _ really  _ didn’t trust that vindictive gleam in Katherine’s eye that hadn’t left since the words ‘torture’ and ‘Elena’ had appeared in the same sentence.

-

Annalise teleported Katherine and herself to the Salvatore Boarding house and watched unsurprised as Katherine just waltzed right through the front door, letting herself in with a flourish. Walking in close behind her, she froze when she heard Rebekah’s voice filter through from the large living room. 

“…So, let me give you some advice: take advantage of what I’m offering you. Make something of yourself. And, for the record, anyone who leaves you behind is a fool. I won’t.”

Annalise swallowed heavily - it was too late to just walk back out, and Katherine was already speaking up, twirling her curled hair around her finger in a self-satisfied air. “Aww. What a beautiful sentiment. Brave words to say, Rebekah dear, seeing as how you and your entire family left Lissie all alone.” 

Matt’s expression had turned into that stupid pitying look once more as he sat at the sofa with papers and cue cards spread out in front of him, looking to the pair that had just entered. Rebekah was standing, having turned as Katherine had spoken. Her eyes flicked between Katherine and Lis in distaste, glinting in anger. 

“She certainly doesn’t look alone to me. I see she’d managed to pick up yet another wench.” 

“Oh. Ouch.” Katherine made a face back at the Original as she crossed her arms. “You kiss pretty little blue-eyed Matty with that mouth?” 

Rebekah looked about ready to lunge, black veins crawling up her cheeks and Annalise shook her head in disappointment. She was already taking steps backwards. “Okay, um…as fun and as mature as this looks, I think this was a bad idea. I’m just gonna head back-”

“Not so fast, sunshine.” Annalise startled when Damon appeared next to her, proceeding to drag her into the living room even as she stubbornly dug her heels into the ground. Giving up, she just made sure not to look anyone in the eye as he continued. “We didn’t know you were still in Mystic Falls; thought that you followed Klaus to wherever he went. We would’ve called you for help if we’d known.” 

“Uh…No. I was here.” Annalise cleared her throat, noticing the beautiful detailing on the couch cushions beside them as she avoided eye contact. Why did Katherine even speak up? “I’ve been busy with Bonnie working on the Silas problem.” 

“That was of course, after dear Klaus and Elijah left without a word of goodbye, and Rebekah here ignored her so hard she probably doesn’t even know Annalise’s turning twenty-one this weekend.” Katherine noted almost smugly, while jutting her hip out to lean against the back of the couch.  Katherine really did enjoy stirring shit up, didn’t she? Annalise shot her a dirty look, but the doppelganger just raised an entertained eyebrow.

The awkwardness in the room increased tenfold, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rebekah’s entire frame stiffen. Lis sighed tiredly, breaking the silence. “Shut up Katherine. The only reason  _ you _ know is because you were there when Silas said it. Can we just get this over with? Please?” 

Katherine walked closer to Annalise, punching her in the arm as though they were best friends. “I agree with Lissie. Let’s go talk some sense into poor emotionless Elena.”

Matt stood immediately, throwing cue cards onto the table angrily as he looked to Damon. “Are you out of your mind?  _ That’s  _ why she’s here?! No  _ way.  _ You can’t do this.” 

“You got a better idea, prom king?” Damon squinted at Matt in annoyance, “Unless you want me to lock you up in there with her, I suggest you shut up.” 

Annalise couldn’t stand to stay in this room and feel Rebekah’s stare on her any longer. She walked forwards slightly, grabbing the teen’s attention. “Look, Matt, I was questioning it too, but Damon’s right. From what I’ve heard, Katherine’s pretty much responsible for everything going wrong in Elena’s life,” 

She ignored the self-satisfied “Thank you.”, that Katherine offered from the side as she continued. “This is a smart play. Elena hates Katherine. She’d get a rise out of her. It’d be stupid not to at least try.” 

“Yup. Let the adults and  _ near _ adults handle this.” Damon clapped his hands on both Annalise’s shoulders and steered her towards the basement, with Katherine following smugly. As Annalise turned the corner, she felt Rebekah’s gaze drill into her back, but she kept her own trained forwards. 

She wasn't strong enough to look her in the eye tonight.

-

When they reached the Salvatore basement which had  _ literal  _ dungeons (a fact that disturbed her to no end), she looked around warily. It was all empty except for a huge single solitary safe sitting in the middle of the cell closest to them. 

Annalise raised a brow at Damon, and he just shrugged casually. Yup. Completely normal. Nothing to see here folks. 

Katherine was already grinning worryingly wide as she walked over, turning the circular handle to pull the heavy metal door open with a clang that echoed around the empty dungeons. She was clearly enjoying this a bit too much.

The safe door grated open to reveal Elena, looking sickly pale and drawn as she leant tiredly against the interior of the safe. Yet Elena’s eyes watched Katherine unimpressed, even as she smiled gleefully. “Oh, don’t you look positively awful?”

Grabbing Elena’s arm, she pulled her out roughly, letting her fall weakly to the ground with a thud. 

Annalise moved forwards reflexively to help, but Damon’s hands tightening on her shoulder stopped her. Right. The whole point of this was to rile Elena up. She can’t come to her defence here. Elena wouldn’t do shit if she thought she was safe.  Elena scowled at Katherine as she weakly sat up on the floor, breathing deeply. Annalise figured she’d run out of air in the safe a while ago, this was a fact that weighed heavily in her gut as the younger doppelgänger spoke. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

“Your boyfriends invited me.” Katherine circled her smugly before crouching down to Elena’s height on the floor. “They wanna know if you still have a heart.” 

In a blur of movement, Katherine grabbed Elena by the arm, hauled her up and slammed her against the cell wall, plunging her other arm right into Elena’s chest making her yell in pain. Annalise felt the air displace behind her as Damon disappeared upstairs. He must be hating this. Swallowing heavily, she turned back to watch Katherine move her arm in Elena’s chest, smirking sadistically. “There it is. Your bodyguards won’t let me kill you, but I  _ can  _ rip your throat out, so I don’t have to listen to you whine.” 

Annalise couldn’t bear to just watch Elena choke in gulps of air around the blood collecting in her throat any longer, so she stepped into the cell. “Katherine, enough.” 

Elena's eyes fell to her dully before they brightened in glee as she smirked at her, then directed it towards Katherinel. “Yeah, Katherine.  _ Heel.”  _

Annalise sighed, rubbing at her eyes tiredly as Katherine slammed Elena back against the wall harder, raising her up using the hand still buried in her chest until Elena’s toes were just barely touching the ground. 

“Elena, shut up. Katherine? Please?” 

Katherine let Elena drop to the ground gracelessly, sagging against the grimy brick wall. Elena let out a choking chuckle as she turned to Lis. “Turns out you might not be useless after all – no wonder Klaus keeps you around.” 

Annalise’s eyes fell to the floor for a split second, but Elena’s sharp gaze caught it. She smirked in realisation. “Unless he  _ doesn’t.  _ You’re still here. He left you here. Seems your novelty’s all gone. _ ”  _

Katherine cut Elena’s low chuckle short with a vicious kick across the girl’s face. 

“Cathartic.”  Katherine shrugged as an explanation when she noted Annalise’s look of judgement, before moving across the room to grab a hand towel in the corner. She approached again, wiping her hand free of Elena’s blood. “Now, to satisfy my curiosity. What did you tell Elijah back in Willoughby?” 

Annalise crossed her arms then, cocking a displeased brow.  _ This  _ was why Katherine wanted to come today? Not out of the goodness of her own heart, but to use it to torture information out of Elena? Shocker. 

She was starting to question Elijah’s judgement. 

Katherine ignored her in favour of listening to Elena. “That’s why you’re here? He dumped you, didn’t he?”  Okay…maybe his good judgement was still intact. Katherine’s eyes narrowed in anger as Elena continued. “Now you’re just looking for a scapegoat.” 

“Tell me what you said to turn him against me," Katherine pulled Elena’s head up by her hair, jerking it back while hissing through clenched teeth, "or I will feed you your _ own eyeballs. _ ” 

Annalise stepped forward to intervene, but Elena was already chuckling darkly. “I didn’t have to say anything. Look at you; self-obsessed egomaniac on the run for five centuries. What good would you be to anyone? You’re the  _ definition _ of damaged goods.” 

Katherine’s glare grew blistering and she looked ready to tear Elena’s heart out. Annalise twisted her wrist, magically bringing Katherine to her side away from the antagonistic teen. 

“Elena, stop.” 

“Oh, you’re still here.” Elena got to her feet slowly - her smirk hadn’t dropped at all. “Didn’t see you there, forgot you were here. It’s more of an effort to remember you, really. I see why everyone you care about doesn’t bother giving a damn.” 

Annalise smirked back callously. “If you wanna rile me up, you’d have to do better than that.” 

Elena tilted her head, blinking slowly. “Oh, I  _ see _ . Whatever I say, you’ll already have said it to yourself. How does it feel to hate yourself more than anyone would care to, and then hate yourself more for that reason alone?” 

“I dunno, I’d feel pretty indestructible right about now.” Her glib retort sounded flat to even her ears.

“Sure you do. That’s why you can’t look me in the eye.” Elena chuckled to herself as she leaned against the wall to help herself up. “Remember when you promised me you’d find a way to help Stefan switch his emotions back? That was the first promise you made me, the first one you broke. I bet you wish that you figured it out back then, don’t you? Then you could’ve used it on me now. Tell me, Lissie, does it get easier to let people down, or is it something you actively work at?’ 

Anger bubbled in her as the dim light of an oil lamp in the corridor outside flickered ominously due to a cold breeze that blew through the tunnels. No, this wasn’t Elena talking. Annalise exhaled a measured breath slowly to reign in her anger before turning to Katherine, watching her closely. “I’m done here.” 

She walked to the door quietly, pausing as Elena called out once more. 

“Really? You’re leaving her here to torture me? You’ve sunk real low, Lissie.” 

Annalise faltered, then teleported up to the sitting room, letting the door of the cell slam close behind her. It appeared that Matt and Rebekah had left the room - the cue cards and study material were all cleaned up. Only Damon remained, nursing a glass of bourbon on the antique sofa, staring off into the large lit fireplace. He turned and smirked lightly as she collapsed on the other end of the sofa, curling in on herself. 

Damon stood after watching her for a moment, then reached for another glass to pour a couple fingers of bourbon into it before holding it out to her. 

She raised a questioning brow. 

He shrugged. “I might vaguely remember you promising that we’d get drunk together after the Hunter fiasco.” 

“That was ages ago, I’m surprised you remember.” Annalise smiled weakly as she reached out to accept the glass. “You’re promoting underage drinking.” 

“In America. Plus, don’t think I haven’t seen your vodka mug.” 

Annalise huffed. “I’ll have you know I’ve never put vodka in that mug.” 

“Hm…seems like a wasted opportunity.” 

Annalise snorted, then took a large gulp of bourbon, wincing as it burned harshly down her throat. Damon levelled her with a look, making her roll her eyes good-naturedly. “I’m honestly a vodka and fruity-drink kinda person. I don’t usually drink the hard stuff.” 

“Usually.” Damon noted as he studied her closer. “What’s your favourite?” 

Lis shut her eyes with a sad smile, leaning her head back against the back of the couch as she remembered uni. “Hard to say. Ever had a peach schnapps cocktail? Those are  _ nice. _ ” 

“Which one? Sex on the Beach? Peach Cosmo? Fuzzy Navel?” Damon barked out a laugh. “I’ve dabbled. Not bad.”

“Not bad at all.” Annalise hummed taking a smaller sip of her glass. It was quiet for a moment as both of them stared into the fire, remembering memories of days past.  Annalise swirled the cup, staring into the depths of the amber liquid in her glass. After a moment, she spoke up quietly. 

“Thanks, for trying to make me feel better.” 

The silence that answered her was answer enough - it was broken the next moment as Katherine waltzed back into the living room with an extra pep in her step. “All that pain and torture, I’ve worked up quite a thirst.” She poured herself a shot of bourbon and threw it back, immediately pouring herself another. 

“It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Elena called you out on your recent boy trouble, could it?” Damon smiled flatly, looking unapologetically smug. “Sorry I couldn’t help but overhear.” 

Katherine rolled her eyes. “Did you ever think Elena would’ve been better off if she’d never met you?” 

_ Ouch.  _ Annalise frowned down at her glass again, hearing Damon laugh darkly. “Are you trying to get a rise out of  _ me?  _ ‘Cos my emotions are fine. I love Elena, despise you. _ ” _

Lis watched uncomfortably as Katherine approached Damon, sitting  _ very  _ close to him and throwing her arm over the back of the sofa behind him to play with his hair. “Mm, so romantic, so doomed to fail. You know, as soon as she goes back to her old self, she’ll go straight to Stefan. That’s the tragedy of you – you never get the girl.” 

Annalise took another sip of bourbon, exchanging a tired glance with Damon at Katherine’s antics. 

They were brought out of their momentary silence when rushed footsteps echoed down the corridor and Stefan ran into the living room, clearly panicked. 

“She’s gone.” 

“What?” Damon was already standing, looking about ready to fight something. 

“Elena’s not in her cell. I’m gonna check on the grounds. Find out what she did.” He gestured at Katherine. 

Katherine smirked wickedly. “Oops. Did I forget to lock her in?” She stood slowly as if savouring the current moment. “Let’s just say I’ve lost interest in Elena’s recovery. I’d rather watch her tear through an orphanage.” She chuckled to herself while she sipped more bourbon. “Imagine trying to come back from a spiral like that.”

Stefan looked about ready to throttle Katherine, while Damon looked as if he was about to tear her head off. 

“Guys, chill.” Annalise sighed, throwing back the rest of her bourbon, then standing slowly. “You’ve got me, remember? Gimme a sec.” 

Both brothers relaxed, but Katherine scowled. Just as Annalise shut her eyes to concentrate, the sound of shattering glass filled her ears, followed immediately by a sharp pain in her neck. Her eyes flew open, and her hands came up automatically to clutch at the sharp shard of glass lodged in the side of her neck to stem the blood dripping from the wound. It wasn’t deep – it was a flesh wound, really. Could’ve been fatal had it not been for the fact that she had fast healing. Lis rolled her eyes, twisting her other wrist. Kathrine fell to the ground with a thud; her neck broken at an uncomfortable angle. 

“You should do that more often. Hell, I'd pay you.” Damon offered her a clean hand towel with a quick grin, but Annalise waved it away, yanking the piece of glass from her neck and dropping it onto the decorative ashtray next to the alcohol, and healing herself with a quick _Sana_ spell. She then cleaned herself up while keeping a close eye on Stefan, who had averted his gaze almost immediately. 

As Annalise closed her eyes once again to look for Elena, she heard more footsteps rush into the room, then pause. Matt’s voice spoke up.  “What’s going on?” 

Footsteps moved past her. “Elena’s gone, Peach Schnapps is tracking her for us. Donovan, put this on.” She internally sighed at the new nickname as she heard Damon throw something through the air. She had a feeling it was gonna stick. 

“What’s happening?” She heard Rebekah question. “What does he need to put the ring on?” 

“Got her.” Annalise opened her eyes, looking at the expectant brothers. “She’s only 2 blocks away, that way.” She gestured in the general direction she felt Elena in as she continued. “Gimme a sec.” 

Focusing on Elena’s weak vampire signature, she  _ pulled.  _

Elena lunged at Annalise with a loud growl and teeth viciously bared as soon as she appeared in the middle of the crowded living room, but her attempt was soon thwarted by Rebekah who grabbed her by her collar in midair and threw her against the wall - hard. 

“Bitch.” Elena groaned from the wall, as she stood, but Stefan was there the next second, holding her against the wall by her neck. 

“You’re cut off.” 

“Let go of me.” She bit back, struggling against his hold. 

“Enough.” There was a scuffle to her side, and the next thing she knew Damon had Matt in a tight grip, positioning him so they both faced the struggling Elena. “You are acting like a little spoiled brat, you know that?” Annalise reached out to grab Rebekah’s hand to stop her from lunging at Damon - she had a feeling he was going to do something  _ incredibly  _ stupid. 

“You think that we can’t punish you. Maybe not.” His eyes flicked to Matt who looked as though he had realised what was going on. 

“But we can punish him.”

Elena rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You think that-”

_ “Shut up.”  _ Damon cut in, eyes hard. “I’m done playing nice. Turn your emotions back on right now Elena, or so help me God, I will  _ give  _ you something to be sad about.” 

“Damon don’t you dare.” Rebekah’s eyes had narrowed dangerously as she fought Annalise’s tight grip. Annalise was frozen, she couldn’t let Damon kill Matt just to get Elena’s emotions back. Annalise wordlessly stepped forwards, and Damon’s eyes flicked to hers. 

“Step away, Peach. I’m not kidding.” 

Lis grit her teeth and shook her head, but her eyes fell to Matt’s fearful but determined gaze. A cold chill ran down her spine. He... _ wanted  _ to do this. He wasn’t fighting back. His finger tapped a staccato beat on Damon’s tight arm holding him by the neck, and Annalise saw the unmistakable Gilbert ring he wore on it. 

Reluctantly, she stepped back. Rebekah no longer fought her tight grip as Elena’s eyes had widened when Lis stood down.  “You’re gonna let him  _ die,  _ Lissie?” She let out a chilling laugh. “You fit right in with the Mikaelsons.” 

Stefan pushed Elena tighter against the wall as she sagged against it casually. Damon kicked the back of Matt’s legs, making him collapse to his knees on the ground. 

“Damon…” 

Damon’s eyes narrowed at Stefan’s hesitation. “Don’t  _ Damon _ me. She doesn’t love anyone? Fine. Prove it.” Elena’s gaze remained detached as he spoke. “And if I’m wrong, what difference does it make? One less bus boy in the world.” 

Rebekah’s teeth gritted and Annalise could tell it was taking a toll on her to stand by and watch Matt die.

Elena’s blank expression didn’t change. “You’re bluffing.” 

Annalise heard more than saw Matt’s neck snap like a twig when Damon twisted it without hesitation. She felt bile rise in her throat as his limp body sagged to the ground. Rebekah couldn’t contain her gasp, but Damon’s gambit seemed to pay off, because neither could Elena. For the first time since she’d laid eyes on the emotionless vampire, Annalise saw Elena’s facade falter as tears filled her wide doe eyes. 

Stefan looked on regretfully as he released Elena, watching her rush to Matt's side, still gasping in shock. 

“How about now? Feel anything? Are you angry I just killed your buddy?” Damon studied Elena as she raised a hand to her face, expression quickly dropping. He scrambled to take advantage while he still had time. “Or are you sad that the guy that everybody loves is just a bag of bones? Remember when he was a little kid, huh?” He prompted as Elena continued to stare at Matt’s dead body. “Warm heart, big goofy smiles. Whole life ahead of him?” 

Elena was on the verge of breaking now, and as Damon crouched low next to Matt, Lis could tell he knew. Stefan inched closer as Damon grabbed Matt’s lifeless had and held it up, letting the light hit the Gilbert ring. 

“I’m guessing it was a good idea he was wearing this.” 

“Oh.” All at once, Elena’s face crumpled as she fell to the ground beside her old friend, reaching out to smooth his hair even as she sobbed. Her gasps sounded louder as she felt for the ring herself, reassuring that it was real as Damon moved closer to her. 

“Feel that weight lifting off your chest? That’s joy. That’s  _ emotion _ , Elena.” Stefan moved closer to the pair on the ground, frowning at his brother, as if seeing him for the first time. 

“That’s humanity.”

Elena dissolved into tears. Damon was at her side in an instant, but she was backing away. “You’re gonna be okay.” 

“No, no, no I- It’s not okay.” Elena was grabbing at her hair now, tears streaming down her face as she stood, backing away from everyone. “What’ve I done?” 

Damon tried to reach for her in reassurance. “It’s okay, Elena, You’re-”

Elena fled upstairs in tears, and Damon faltered at her dismissal. Stefan noticed his brother needed a minute, and followed behind Elena with a singular nod in his direction. 

The next moment, Damon had been thrown back against the wall, and held there by Rebekah, struggling as she growled in his face. “You put Matt’s life in danger again, and you won’t live to see your precious Elena ever recover. You got it?” 

Damon narrowed his bright blue eyes at her, clearly not in the mood for threats. Annalise cleared her throat, getting their attention. 

“Rebekah, I reckon he’s got enough to deal with for tonight. Matt wanted to do this. If you respect his wishes, let Damon go.” 

Rebekah hesitated, but released Damon nevertheless. He shot her a grateful look as he shook Rebekah off. “Thanks Peach.”

"I know you knew what you were doing, Damon, I just knew it was stupid." 

"It was." Damon chuckled sadly. "But I knew it'd work. All her life, all she's known is loss. Killing Matt wouldn't have flipped her switch, hell, it would've given her more reason to stay detached."

"But you reminded her that there was more to life than just death." Annalise made a low noise of comprehension. "When Matt survived, you made her realise that there's still good in her life." When he dipped his head shallowly, Annalise patted him on his arm gently. "Good job mate." She then walked to Matt, tapping his shoulder gently to teleport him to the couch. “We’re good here for now. Take a moment, and then go check on her. Help her through this. She needs you.” 

Damon clapped her shoulder in thanks and passed her a grim smile before he followed Stefan and Elena upstairs. 

It took a moment for Annalise to realise that she was now left alone in a room with an unconscious Katherine, and Matt, and an incredibly guilty-looking Rebekah. She cleared her throat awkwardly, looking  _ way  _ too apologetic. 

Fucking great. 

Annalise smiled at her stiffly. “I heard today congratulations are in order. You’re gonna be an aunt now, huh?”

“Lissie, I didn’t know-”

Lis shook her head with a sardonic chuckle as she shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t know what’s more pathetic; that I’ve been waiting for an explanation for nearly a month, or the fact that Katherine, of all people, took _ pity  _ on me.”

Rebekah’s face soured. “You were with Bonnie-”

“Because we were trying to figure out how to stop Silas and the  _ fucking world as we know it from ending!”  _ Rebekah looked taken aback at Annalise’s frustrated yell – just as much as she did.  She didn’t want to yell, goddammit. Annalise spoke slowly. “ _ One  _ phone call, Bekah, even just one  _ stupid excuse,  _ but I got nothing. No explanation, nada.”

“I thought Elijah and Nik would still-”

“ _ Clearly _ not, Bekah.” Annalise sniffed, chuckling hollowly. “I had to put sheets on the furniture at home because I realised that dusting the entire house was a waste of the time that I could be using to help Kol. I waited, and waited. And waited.” 

“Lissie-”

She shook her head. “Look, I should’ve gotten the memo when Nik…Klaus, put that necklace on me. I understand – I got caught up, I was a fool to think that any of you gave a shit. Fooled me twice, right?” Her eyes wandered to Katherine, still collapsed on the floor of the Salvatore living room with a broken neck. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m taking Katherine’s advice. I’m staying in Mystic Falls until Silas kicks the bucket, then I’m getting the hell out of here.”

“You can’t-” Annalise’s phone buzzed, interrupting whatever Rebekah was trying to say. Annalise sighed, accepting the call. 

“Bonnie?” 

“Lis get to Caroline’s  _ now.  _ I think Silas is trying to kill her.” 

_ Shit.  _ Just as Annalise teleported, Rebekah’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm – when she arrived at Caroline’s, Rebekah stumbled next to her. Annalise bristled, ready to yell at her again for not understanding the gravity of the situation, but Bonnie ran up the path behind them, going straight to the door, jiggling the handle. “Thank god you’re here, Lis. Caroline!” 

Caroline approached the door from inside the house, apparent through the glass pane of the door, relief evident on her face as she saw both Annalise and Bonnie there. “There you are.” 

“What’s going on? Are you alright?” 

Caroline paused with her eyes narrowed, regarding Bonnie suspiciously after her question. “I’ve been calling you for hours.” 

“I’m sorry. I came as soon as I got the message.” Bonnie tried the locked handle again. “Caroline, let me in. Let me help.” 

Caroline shook her head unsurely. “How do I know it’s you? Silas keeps getting in my head, attacking me. He says he wants to know where you are, he threatened my mother.”

“Caroline, Bonnie’s not Silas – I can tell, remember?” Annalise moved herself into Caroline’s line of sight. “Look, I’ll tell you exactly where he is.” 

Annalise narrowed her eyes as she expanded her senses – Silas’s energy brushed up against hers almost immediately just as Caroline’s mom walked up behind her daughter. In the dim moonlight, she saw a flash of wickedness play across the sheriff’s features. 

“ _ Shit.”  _

Annalise appeared beside Caroline in a flash, yelling as she threw Caroline’s mother against the wall. She vaguely registered Caroline scream, then heard the sound of splintering wood as Rebekah kicked the front door open to let Bonnie come through. Her gaze, however, didn’t move an inch from where it was focused on Liz Forbes, still plastered against the wall, chuckling. 

“Ugh, Lissie, Lissie, Lissie. You always suck the fun out of everything.” 

“Oh my god.” Caroline whispered weakly from behind her, sounding seconds away from breaking down. “Where’s my mom?” 

The sheriff looked to Bonnie who moved to stand beside Annalise, smirking at her. “Did you really think you could hide from me, Bonnie?” 

“I’m here now.” The girl next to her growled. “What did you do to her mother?” 

Silas turned to Caroline. “She’s right where you left her.” Annalise heard Caroline spin on her heel and run to their living room, but her hard gaze didn’t leave Silas’s form. He smirked; the next second it was Kol pinned on the wall. Rebekah gasped from behind her, still trapped at the threshold of the house having not been invited in, drawing Silas’s attention. 

“Hello, sister.” Silas/Kol tilted his head. “Or I suppose that isn’t entirely accurate is it? Poor Lissie here mourned more for your brother than you ever did. Though maybe that’s because you weren’t there to see his death. Well, let me help you visualise it.” 

Rebekah groaned in pain as Silas’ eyes focused on her, falling to her knees and choking on a mouthful of blood while clutching at her chest. Silas grinned sadistically. “That’s what your dear little brother felt in his last moments after he got stabbed.” He tilted his head. “Oh wait, I’m missing something.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Silly me. I forgot the fire. Duh.” 

New pain rippled through Rebekah’s expression as her eyes shut and she screamed at being psychically burned alive. “Now, how does that make you feel?” 

Having had enough, Annalise clenched her hand, imagining Silas’s airways constricting – he gasped heavily to catch his breath as his focus turned back to her with a glare. “This isn’t a therapy session, Dr. Phil. Why are you being more of a nuisance than you normally are?” From the corner of her eye, she saw Rebekah recover slowly, still catching her breath as she stood.

“Blame her.” Silas pouted immaturely at Bonnie. “I thought that you guys and I were on the same side, but Bonnie here hasn’t been returning my calls. I was feeling left out, really.” 

Bonnie glared harder. “The full moon isn’t for two more days. I’ve been gathering my strength, preparing myself.” 

Silas nodded almost understandingly. “You’re the only ones who can do the spell - curse Tess - so I can’t hurt you, but I  _ can  _ hurt people you love. You do understand that right?” 

Annalise clenched her hand tighter, finally fueling the anger that had come to a boil within her as she hissed. 

“Think again,  _ buddy _ .”

“Lissie.” Bonnie tapped her tight fist lightly. Annalise faltered, biting back her frustration as she released Silas reluctantly. He stood straighter, brushing off his shoulders, still making a show of listening to Bonnie. “I’ll do your spell, I will drop the veil, and we'll help you die. I promise. Just don’t hurt my friends.”

Silas leaned closer to the pair, then and Annalise faltered at the malevolent look in Kol’s eyes. “Your promise is binding, Bonnie. If you break it, you will have to answer to me.” 

“In your fucking dreams, you freak.” Annalise bit out, eyes burning silver. “Don’t you dare threaten her again.” 

“You truly are coming into your true self, Lissie.” Kol’s tilting smirk felt wrong as he looked back to Bonnie. “You should leave. The next time I come looking for you, I expect you to be waiting.” 

Bonnie’s expression hardened, but she offered no retort as Silas brushed past the pair and walked right out the broken front door, not even sparing Rebekah another glance. Bonnie and Lis exchanged a look of apprehension then Bonnie squeezed her arm. “I need to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Annalise gave her a displeased nod as she too left the Forbes household. Standing still in the foyer, she thought back on what had just happened in what had been an exponentially worse bad day in a recent slew of bad days, when suddenly Caroline’s distressed yell from the other room interrupted her thoughts. “Lissie, my mom’s hurt. She isn’t waking up, _ please.”  _

Annalise followed the yell and hurried to the living room to find Caroline sobbing softly over Sheriff Forbes’s still body laid out of the ground. There was blood around the sheriff’s mouth.  That meant Caroline had used her blood, but Liz  _ wasn’t  _ awake. There were only a few reasons why vampire blood wouldn’t work. Getting on her knees quickly, she placed a hand each on Liz’s chest and head. It was as Annalise thought; her life force was weak and waning. 

Bracing herself, Annalise reached out to grab hold of the wispy energy, pulling,  _ urging  _ it back to the body. Her skin warmed and she felt her eyes burn and fly wide open. 

Under her hands, Liz Forbes drew a deep shuddering breath. 

Caroline sobbed in relief, sinking down to hug her mother tighter as Annalise sank backwards, catching her breath and feeling her skin cool from the exerted heat of the spell. The glow from her skin disappeared lazily, reflecting off the white walls in waves. She distantly noted that she no longer felt exhausted like she had nearly a year ago after using her magic - She had grown too. 

That...made her feel as though she had direction once more, even if that only applied to herself. 

As she stood slowly, watching the mother and daughter’s teary hug on the ground with a smile, she felt as though she was intruding on an incredibly private moment. Annalise cleared her throat weakly to get their attention. “I’m uh...gonna go now. Call me if you need anything.” 

Caroline looked up at her gratefully through her tears and nodded while Sheriff Forbes gave her a warm smile. “Thanks, sweetie.” 

Annalise blushed, looking away as she mumbled “No worries,” under her breath, then exited the room quietly. 

Lis paused in the foyer once more, this time, surprised to find Rebekah still leaning against the front porch outside. As she approached, Rebekah straightened, passing her a small smile.  Annalise sighed, giving her a tired look as she tapped the broken door next to her. “That was a shitshow. You shouldn’t have come.” With a crackle, the damage done to the door reversed, and Annalise stepped out onto the porch, pulling the front door shut behind her. 

Rebekah looked away, her earrings dangling with the sharp displeased movement of her head. Without another word, Lis teleported them back to the Salvatore boarding house living room. 

The first thing she noticed was that Stefan was leaning against the wall, deep in thought. His gaze seemed to be contemplatively stuck on Matt, still unconscious on the couch Annalise had put him on. 

The firelight glinting off the Gilbert ring on Matt’s hand made Annalise pause however, even as Rebekah approached the boy worriedly. She turned to someone who could give her answers. “He’s still dead?” 

Stefan kicked off from the wall then, walking to her side. “Yeah. He should be fine though.” 

Annalise nodded slowly as she watched Rebekah make herself comfortable opposite Matt’s prone body. “Is she okay?” 

“I hope so.” Stefan sighed, rubbing a tired hand over the back of his neck. “She was finding everything overwhelming, so I told her to focus on one emotion.” Lis raised an eyebrow, Stefan nodded grimly in response, anticipating her reply. “I know, it isn’t healthy, but it’s better than nothing.” 

As he poured himself a glass of bourbon from the decanter on the table, Annalise was struck by the feeling that there was something she was missing. Stefan shot her a questioning look as she straightened, studying the room before she noticed that the piece of glass that Katherine had lodged in her neck was gone from the tray, and conveniently, so was Katherine. 

_ Shit.  _

“Hey, Stefan, I don’t reckon you or Damon cleaned since we met last?” 

He looked at her oddly. “No, I only came downstairs a few minutes ago. Why?” 

Annalise rubbed at her eyes from under her glasses. She should’ve been more on her guard today. “I think Katherine took my blood. In fact, I think she’s been after it the entire day.” 

Worry rose on his features and she noticed Rebekah had also turned in her seat to listen closely as Stefan asked, “Is this gonna be a problem?” 

Annalise nodded, running a stressed hand through her hair. “I’d say yes. But I’ll feel it if there’s a spell cast on me, so I’ll deal with it when it comes. Silas is my biggest priority right now, I need to-”

_“You,_ need to take a break.” Stefan grabbed her by the shoulder and led her to their kitchen. She noted both brothers had a very distinct way of caring for their friends. Exchanging a small nod with Rebekah this time, she let Stefan haul her into the room adjacent to the foyer. 

As she was seated on a barstool in the lovely, relatively small and homey Salvatore kitchen, she realised that the last time she was in here was back when Esther had first risen, and shooed her out of the mansion. She had stumbled upon it on her hunt for breakfast, and had quickly decided it was her favourite room in the entire house. Stefan poured her a glass of water from the tap, then slid it over to her on the counter. Annalise shot him a grateful nod as she sipped at it. 

He initiated the conversation after studying her for a moment. 

“I’m sorry we didn’t reach out, we didn’t know you were alone.” 

Annalise shook her head dismissively. “I wasn’t really. Katherine was exaggerating. I had Bonnie. And the Mayor. They were wonderful.” Stefan smiled awkwardly even as his eyes flicked to the ceiling above their head. It took Annalise a moment to catch on to what he was doing, but once she did, a small amused curl lifted her lips. She spoke again, bringing his attention back to her. “So, you eavesdropped on Katherine being a general nuisance when we first got here. Why’d you stay hiding?” 

“It might have been my idea to call her. I was worried it was a mistake.” Stefan crossed his arms as he shrugged. “Turns out I may have been half right.” 

“Half right?” She tilted her head in question.

“She brought you.” He smiled as she ducked her head, taking another sip of water. “Thank you.” His eyes wandered upwards once more even as he continued. “Is there anything more you could do to help her?” 

Annalise shook her head with a huff. “I’m afraid I can’t heal this kind of pain. She’s gonna have to cope with this on her own.” 

“And are you?” Stefan’s eyes had returned back to her. Annalise frowned in confusion. 

“Am I what?” 

Stefan shook his head as if choosing another line of thought. “Are you coping well with the...the Expression?” 

Annalise paused for a moment in surprise before nodding, not expecting his concern. “Yeah, actually. Bonnie hasn’t had any episodes since...y’know. And so I’ve been good.” 

“That’s good.” His eyes were stuck to the ceiling again, even as his voice held his sincerity. Annalise studied him as he cocked his head slightly in one direction, eyes focused on the ceiling as if he was trying to listen in better. 

“Stefan.” Annalise gave him a quick grin. “Go ahead, go check on Elena. I’ll just chill here for a bit while Matt wakes up. I’ll be fine, I promise.” 

He shot her one last smile and a nod, and left her nursing her water in the empty kitchen, alone once more. 

-

After about ten minutes, she heard sounds of conversation carrying from the living room next door. Matt was awake and talking to Rebekah. Good. 

She heard Rebekah speak up lowly. “It was a brave thing to do.” 

“She saved me from drowning in the bottom of that river.” Matt’s voice held no regrets. “I’m just doing what I can to pay her back.” 

Annalise heard movement, then Rebekah spoke again. “There aren’t enough apologies in the world for the part I played in this. Running off you off the bridge, Elena becoming a vampire to save you. If you don’t want me to cheat you into college, fine. We’ll do it the hard way, but...Matt. I will spend everyday until graduation trying to find a way to pay you back.” 

The sincerity in her voice was what made Annalise break. She stood quickly from her stool at the counter and walked to the front door, passing the conversing pair a small flat smile and a wave, then leaving the Boarding house behind in a rush. 

She paused halfway down the long driveway when she heard Rebekah call out to her. “Wait, Lissie!” 

Annalise kept speeding forward in a rush, only stumbling back when Rebekah suddenly appeared in front of her. 

“Bekah, just let me leave, please.” She felt tears sting her eyes, and she hated feeling this stupid. 

“No.” Rebekah moved in front of her as she tried to move away. “I need to tell you that you were wrong tonight.” 

Annalise chuckled incredulously. “ _ I  _ was  _ wrong?!” _

“Yes, okay! You said I shouldn’t have come with you to Caroline’s house, and you were wrong.” Annalise glared at the blonde, illuminated only by the light of the dim moon, as she spoke, eyes wide. “I saw tonight - Silas - he needs to be stopped. And I see that now. I was so incredibly caught up in my own needs that I didn’t realise the cost all this had on you.” 

Rebekah breathed deeply, seemingly reassured by the fact that Annalise was standing stock still and  _ not  _ currently attacking her. “I-I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Elijah told me that night to fill you in, and to say goodbye on his behalf but I was petty, and jealous, and I didn’t tell you, I’m sorry. I never thought that Nik wouldn’t reach out to you, or Elijah. I -I didn’t mean to just abandon you, I know I don’t deserve it, but I’d like it if I could have my best friend back. I don’t know how I’d ever make it up-”

Rebekah was speaking earnestly in a rush, holding tight to Annalise’s arms. The more she rambled, the more Annalise felt a weight lift off her chest. 

“This. This is a pretty good start.” Lis cut in with a small grin. 

If Annalise was being honest, she was sick of feeling angry all the time. 

Rebekah smiled widely, and the next second, Lis was bundled up in the blonde’s arms in a tight hug, then set down once more. A grin stretched her cheeks widely for the first time in what felt like forever, and she hugged Rebekah back tightly.  When they stepped back, Rebekah’s smile faded. “I truly am sorry you had to deal with him alone for this long.”

Annalise shook her head with a smile. “I wasn’t alone.” Annalise noticed Rebekah’s face no longer fell at the mention of the young witch, and was happier for it. “Don’t worry, this’ll all be over soon.” 

Rebekah smiled sadly, then shrugged, hesitating. “…I’ve said my farewells to Matt, so what do you say to a sleepover for old time’s sake? I have my guest bedroom made up if you want to leave that big empty house behind?” 

“That...sounds good.” Annalise shot her a small smile. 

As she shared another smile with Rebekah, Annalise realised this was the most normal she’d felt in a long time – and if Bonnie was right; all this Silas drama could be done by tomorrow. 

Just one more day. 

Should be easy, right?

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katherine was beyond fun to write in this chapter, hehe. Lemme know your thoughts! Comments literally keep me going <3


	35. The Walking Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season's greetings everyone, hope you guys had a lovely holiday!!!  
> Warnings: Strong Language, Canon-Typical Violence, Mention of Suicide.
> 
> Enjoy!

“So, let me get this straight.” Rebekah held a beautifully crafted letter that bore her name in elegant cursive up in vague confusion while she flipped her loose braid over her shoulder. Matt exchanged an amused glance with Annalise as she sat slumped, nursing her coffee as he wiped the counter down behind the bar. Rebekah continued. “You send out a notice of your impending graduation and people feel obliged to give you money?” 

Matt shrugged with a huff, leaning against the bar opposite them. “Pretty much.” 

Rebekah grinned widely. “That sounds brilliant. Why aren’t you participating?” 

“I don’t have a whole lot of family.” He sent a flat smile in Rebekah’s direction.  _ Smooth.  _ Annalise chuckled into her coffee, then immediately schooled her expression into an innocent one when her friend turned to her with a playful glare. 

Matt laughed, but just as Rebekah was about to grill into Lis, her phone vibrated with two consecutive texts. 

Looking down at her phone, her smile dimmed. 

**“At witch massacre. I need you here.”**

**“It’s happening tonight.”**

Her heart thudded hard. She had tilted her phone away so that neither of her friends could read it - but it seemed that only served to make her sharp friends even more suspicious as they peered curiously at her sudden change in mood. Flashing them a quick smile she hoped was reassuring, Annalise pocketed her phone while chugging the last bit of her coffee down as she climbed off the barstool. 

"What's wrong Lissie?" Rebekah looked concerned.

“Nothing. Just got some errands to run. See you guys later.” Lis sent them a small wave as she walked a few steps away through the crowd, before she turned back to face the inquisitive gazes trailing after her to give them a hesitant but significant look. “Stay safe tonight.” 

Both Rebekah and Matt’s eyes widened in worry, but before they could comment, Annalise slipped into a shadowy corner of the Mystic Grill and disappeared from their sight. 

-

As Annalise appeared in the middle of the clearing where the witches were brutally murdered, she couldn’t help but let her eyes flick to the mounds of dirt in the corner, now covered by moss and damp dead branches. The trees offered shade from the cold morning sunlight filtering through the bright green foliage, but nothing shielded her from the feeling of  _ wrongness  _ in the magic that permeated the air around her. Annalise also knew instinctively the whispers she heard in the breeze were not a product of her imagination, and instead were the remnants of magic that the 12 witches had left behind, now twisted into something dark and tar-like.

Bonnie almost blended in with this energy as she sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing, amidst the dead leaves and twigs. She muttered a spell under her breath as she remained unnaturally still, voice almost harmonising with the whispers in the wind as her own magic grew nearly inextinguishable to the Expression.

Annalise walked closer in morbid curiosity, but didn’t interrupt even as a lone raven cawed in the distance. Not breaking concentration, especially when casting dark and dangerous spells were paramount. This was a lesson drilled into her in her magic studies. She wouldn't forget any time soon.

So, she stood there quietly until she heard another pair of footsteps join them. Lis turned to see a disgruntled Katherine step over a moss-covered log in disgust. 

Her eyes flicked around the eerie clearing, squinting at Bonnie before finally landing on Annalise in vague disappointment.  “Oh, you got roped into this creepfest too? I expected better.” 

“What? After  _ one  _ day of knowing me?” Annalise shifted to glare at her suspiciously. “Hey, speaking of creepfests, why the fuck did you take my blood?” 

Katherine smiled acidly. “I wanted to see if you were related to Mother Teresa.” She shrugged. “You’re not, in case you were wondering.” 

"Good to know." Annalise rolled her eyes hard at the non-reply but turned to Bonnie as she shifted. “Why is Katherine even here?” 

Bonnie stood finally, having completed casting whatever spell she had been focusing on as she turned to look at Katherine in distaste. “She wanted me to make her immortal in exchange for the power source - Silas’ tombstone.” She glared at the doppelganger as she continued. “Which, I should add, she also conveniently  _ stole _ from  _ us  _ on the island.” 

“Silas’ tombstone?” 

Bonnie nodded slightly at Annalise’s curious echo. “Yeah, it’s filled with the calcified blood of Qetsiyah.” 

“Which you can then channel to power the spell and bind it to the triangle so the veil only drops within it, instead of using the full moon.” Annalise walked over to the witch with a bright grin. “Bonnie Bennet you are a genius.” 

Bonnie smirked back. “Dropping the veil within the Triangle was _your_ idea; let’s just both admit that we are all kinds of badass and brilliant and move on.” 

Annalise's embarrassed smile dimmed as Katherine made retching noises from behind them. “Ugh, all I wanted was Silas’s immortality. Not whatever _...this_ is.”  Katherine made to walk away, but it was as though she hit an invisible wall after a few steps. No matter how much she struggled, her feet couldn’t move away any further. 

Lis raised a questioning brow at Bonnie, feeling the link between her and the doppelgänger, as Katherine turned around with a snarl. “What the  _ hell _ ?” 

“I linked us,” Bonnie smirked, walking closer. “Which means you’re stuck with us for the day. Silas can be anyone. If he gets in your head and figures out we don’t need a full moon to do the spell, it’s over.” Annalise chuckled at Katherine’s scowl when Bonnie confidently crossed her arms, jutting her hip out. “Now, about that tombstone.” 

“You’ll get it when I want you to.” Katherine bit back with a saccharine smile. Bonnie made to step forwards, but Annalise stepped between them. 

“Relax, Bonnie. This is just Katherine being a brat because she’s realised she’s in hot water. Trying to exercise control etcetera.” Katherine made a face at her before she looked back at Bonnie. “You done here?” 

“Yeah. I’ve connected to the massacre’s magic. It’s the Lockwood cellar next.” Her gaze turned concerned when Annalise faltered. “You don’t have to come with us, you know? We can meet you at the Young Farm.” 

“No, no. I’ve avoided it long enough.” Annalise shook her head, smiling flatly. “Here, hold my hand. We can fast-track this.” 

Katherine reluctantly placed her hand in Lis’ outstretched one, and Bonnie shot her an unsure one before she also placed a hand in hers.

_ “Shit.”  _ Annalise immediately winced and shot out of Bonnie’s grip like it burned her. Bonnie frowned in worry. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine…” Annalise rubbed her arms, nodding, recoiling away from Bonnie’s extended hand. “Uh…you’re carrying the link of the witch massacre right now; let’s just say you’re super-charged.” 

Bonnie retracted her hand almost immediately, eyes wide in apology as she nodded to Annalise. “Sorry.” 

“No, no…I just wasn’t ready.” Annalise shook her head, brown eyes warm with understanding. “But uh...I don’t think I can teleport us to the points of the triangle. You’re carrying a  _ lot  _ of excess, and I don’t want to drain you before tonight.” 

Bonnie nodded along to her reasoning. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry.” 

“No, hey.” Lis smiled reassuringly. “It’s not your fault. It’ll all be over tonight.” 

“Ugh can we  _ please  _ move this along?” Katherine spoke up impatiently. “I feel like I’m aging over here.”  She shrugged at the blank looks both Bonnie and Annalise levelled at her before gesturing at the path. “Well? What are you waiting for? Lead the way.” 

-

The sun had sunk low by the time the trio had trekked to the Lockwood Cellar, and Katherine had complained plenty throughout it about her very expensive boots suffering the damp forest floor. 

Bonnie and Lis had long since become used to filtering out Katherine’s incessant protests, and instead they walked silently at a distance from each other - Bonnie leading the way, and Annalise lagging back behind Katherine. The dark energy Bonnie carried unsettled Lis to her core, but she knew they were close to the cellar when that discomfort doubled to a stifling amount. 

Annalise felt sick to her stomach as she approached the empty clearing where Nik had gone berserk. She’d never visited here, not once. There had been a feeling in her gut - one that warned her away from this clearing, warned her against ever coming there to respect her...acquaintances? People she’d spent time with? Friends?

Now she knew why. What was once the signatures of the hybrids had congealed into an ugly energy, seeping through the clearing into the caves below. It had become unrecognizable and twisted, much like the energy of the witches. Only it felt as if it had rotted too. She lingered unsurely at the entrance of the cellar, hesitating even as Bonnie hilariously used her linking spell to force Katherine down the crumbling stone stairs. 

Dark marks littered the stonework, colour unidentifiable in the dark...it could’ve been dirt, but something told her it wasn’t. Annalise swallowed heavily and shut her eyes, before taking a deep breath after reaching for the lighter magic,  _ her  _ magic, stored in her ring. 

This would end tonight, and she had promised Bonnie she’d be there, every step of the way. Determined, she made her way down the stairs, ignoring the sense of complete dread pooling in her gut. She wouldn’t fail her friend. 

Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Bonnie’s eyes already searching for her as she gave her a small supporting smile. The teen smiled back in relief as Annalise leaned against the doorway, watching grimly as Bonnie proceeded to breathe deeply and start to chant. 

The wind picked up outside as Annalise felt that dark, viscous energy erupt upwards, then mix and connect to the energy Bonnie had trailed over here from the forest clearing. It flared brightly on Lis’s senses; an aphotic solid line that was so dark that it felt as though no light could penetrate it, stretched right across the city. She felt her stomach churn as the chains attached to the cave wall that no doubt had once helped Tyler with his transformations, shook against the stone walls in a foreboding rattle.

Even as bile rose up her throat, Annalise refused to lose her nerve now. This was only the beginning. 

-

The wind howled and rattled the dilapidated farm house with aimed vengeance, while the rains outside battered the ground in wave upon wave of vicious hail. It had been hours now, and night had fallen. 

This was no normal night, however. The sky had darkened to a lightless void, and Annalise heard faint sounds of sirens echoing faraway. She wasn’t too sure though. She leaned heavily against a crumbling and ashen wooden wall, barely able to stand straight, let alone distinguish sirens from that dull ringing filling her ears. It was taking longer and longer for Bonnie to concentrate, link and stabilise the energies from the three massacres, but Annalise was beyond glad that the young witch still hadn’t lost control. 

The human massacre had been the first- the oldest. It felt the most rotten, and resisting. Maybe it had been in stasis for too long. Magic tends to seep into its surroundings quickly, getting attached to the point that even if it’s removed, it leaves a residue. Dark magic leaves a stain. 

This massacre had ensured the ground beneath them was devoid of life - barren all the way to the neighboring farm, and then some. No wonder she wasn’t feeling well. 

However, there was one other person who seemed to share her discomfort, if not to that extent. 

Katherine looked deeply disturbed as she studied the chaotic landscape outside through a broken window as Bonnie started to speak, eyes still shut. 

“Twelve humans burned to death here. They died in vain for Silas.” 

Annalise looked away in revulsion, but felt further nauseous as she felt a weight drop heavily on her shoulders. She let herself sag fully against the wall, breathless under this sudden change.

“What did you do?” Katherine spared her a quick glance, then at the lamps that had extinguished all at once as Bonnie opened her eyes calmly. 

“I linked the final hotspot.” Bonnie’s tone seemed focused and detached even as Annalise struggled to her feet. “It’s time to drop the veil.”

Katherine and Lis exchanged an apprehensive glance before Annalise scowled impatiently. “Let’s just get this over with.” 

-

When the trio arrived at the Mystic Falls High School and got out of Bonnie’s car, Katherine looked around the tumultuous dark clouds and the screaming winds shaking leaves off trees and shrugged. 

“Well, _this_ doesn’t look apocalyptic at all.” 

Lis rolled her eyes and walked behind her as she stumbled forwards due to Bonnie’s linking spell. “Just, don’t screw us over in there please. I’m sure even you don’t want to live in a world where all the supernaturals you screwed over walk free?” 

Katherine huffed as Bonnie led them through the hallways of the school in a hurry. “Fine. As long as you protect me in there.” 

“You know I can’t promise you that. It’s not you that’s in the most danger.” Annalise shot her a grim look. “But you shouldn’t worry. Something tells me you’ll survive this too.” 

Katherine shot her an unreadable glance before nodding, following Bonnie down into the boiler room. Bonnie looked over her shoulder impatiently. “Hurry. This way, we need to go to the caves under the school.” 

The caves offered a respite from the sounds of unforgiving winds and sleet outside, but dark magic permeated the already stifling air in a sick manner, further increasing Annalise’s discomfort. Bonnie led them past a number of openings to other cave systems with practiced ease; going directly down a path that opened up into a giant cavern filled to the brim with unlit candles and torches; clearly used from the hardened wax dripping down the walls. 

So this was where Bonnie had been hiding from Silas. 

Neat…but creepy.

The torches set deep into the walls on almost medieval brackets showed the age of the cavern as Bonnie moved to its centre. Katherine’s legs followed behind Bonnie until she turned to face the doppelganger with her arms crossed, wearing a severe frown. 

“Okay, this is the centre of the triangle. I’m ready.” She extended her arm. “Now give me the tombstone.” 

Annalise moved to stand between the pair as Katherine grudgingly walked to deposit her heavy handbag into Bonnie’s hands. “The fact that this spell hinges on some crappy hunk of blood-rock does little to inspire my confidence.” 

Bonnie set it on the ground and hauled out the heavy rock. “It’s filled with the calcified blood of Qetsiyah, one of the strongest witches in the world. It’ll work.” 

Annalise moved as close as her discomfort allowed to stand next to Bonnie as she held the rock out in front of her.  Katherine on the other hand moved as far away as the linking spell stretched, looking disturbed as rivulets of blood started dripping from the rock as if it were bleeding. 

“What’s happening?” Katherine shifted in palpable unease as Bonnie shut her eyes and exhaled while the blood kept dripping onto the cavern floor. 

“She’s channeling the triangle.” Annalise offered but didn’t move her eyes from Bonnie, even as the torches and candles around them flared to light, following an unmistakable pulse of dark magic. 

Doing her best to ignore the pure  _ waves  _ of dark magic emanating from the young witch, nearly causing her knees to buckle, Annalise put her hands on the stone, feeling her magic pulse and interact with the dark and raging magic within it. 

As Bonnie pushed her magic from one side, chanting, and Annalise pushed from the other, the combined pulse of power spread around them in a blast - she sensed the resulting ripples in the fabric of nature spreading through Mystic Falls, but thankfully bounce off the limits of the triangle. Hope filled her heart. Their plan was _working._

The energy in the air swelled further to a point where it was almost suffocating. Annalise felt lightheaded-  wrong.

Her earlier hope died moments after it flared to life. Maybe this was a bad idea. But there was no way she was letting Bonnie do this all alone. 

Katherine worriedly looked up at the roof of the cave, clearly panicking as the ground around them shook, shaking dust free from the roof. 

“Brace yourself.” Annalise warned Katherine, watching as she realised that she had enough pull to hide behind a large rock jutting from the wall. Annalise suddenly gasped then, eyes burning silver as she felt the energy rise to a crescendo – it was everywhere, it was in her mouth, in  _ her soul. _

Bonnie smiled. “It’s done.” 

Then all of a sudden,  _ it was _ . Annalise felt something heavy fall away, like large heavy curtains collapsing from their rods - the impact of something hitting the metaphorical ground shook her to her  _ core,  _ and she felt herself let go of the rock and  _ fold _ trying to hold something together. She felt torn,  _ exposed  _ to something otherworldly and unnatural that brushed against her magic in a chilling manner. She felt  _ death  _ all around her, sinking into the life magic she'd become so familiar with - not corrupting it, but changing it to something else. All at once a memory of watching a small leaf floating under the strong currents of Wickery Bridge filled her thoughts as she found herself at mercy to tides of magic that dwarfed her.

Lis collapsed to her knees. 

Bonnie’s hand on her shoulder only worsened the way she felt.

As she faltered, Lis berated herself. Now was not the time to be weak. Not when they'd managed to come so far. Annalise breathed in deep, then stood as straight as the new weight on her shoulders would allow, nodding to the pair of girls watching her, Bonnie worriedly, and Katherine in an analytical manner. 

Katherine smirked wickedy. “Immortality, here I come.”

-

Katherine had moved closer to Annalise as soon as the veil had dropped - she’d found this amusing, but hadn’t commented. She was nervous too, but thankfully, she'd found herself a distraction.

As Bonnie had been kneeling on the ground, muttering to herself in concentration, Annalise was frowning at the young witch. The spell she was using now sounded almost like a location spell. This wasn’t part of any plan that Annalise was privy to, despite the fact that Bonnie was still using both their power combined in the stone to fuel the spell. 

She could pick apart words if she focused, and it was as though Bonnie was... _calling_ someone. Maybe this was Bonnie’s way of defeating Silas, or maybe she was just grabbing a headstart in locating Jeremy’s ghost to bring him back from the other side. 

Lis was suddenly distracted from focusing on Bonnie’s monotonic chant when her phone buzzed. 

Bekah. Annalise did a double take at the message, fumbling with her phone out of shock. 

She had _known, sure, but_ _ - _

__

“Lis?” Bonnie was looking at her curiously at the shocked gasp that had escaped her. “Everything okay?” 

Annalise cleared her throat, unable to keep a large disbelieving smile from climbing her face. “I-It’s Kol. He’s at the grill, and threatening murder, but it’s  _ him _ . He-He’s here. I know I said I’d stay with you, but-” 

"I understand." Bonnie shot her a small genuine smile. “Better go stop him then.” 

Annalise had disappeared the moment Bonnie had finished uttering her sentence. 

-

In her hurry, Annalise appeared right in the middle of the Grill - she was thankful for the fact that it seemed deserted, lit only by bunches of candles placed in strategic areas around the diner. Rebekah and Matt stood defensively, facing someone pouring himself a drink at the bar; Matt’s shoulder was bleeding –  _ was that half a beer bottle stuck in there? _

The figure turned, and in the moment when his oh-so familiar dark gaze met hers, Annalise had never felt so unbalanced. 

“Kol?” 

Annalise stepped forwards slightly, bringing her closer to Matt and Rebekah’s side. Rebekah reached for her hand as she stepped beside her. Annalise’s eyes still hadn’t moved from his unreadable stare as a breathy chuckle escaped her. “Really? The first thing you do when you get over here is stick a bottle in someone’s shoulder?” 

Managing to tear her eyes away from him for a moment, Lis reached out to Matt and pulled the glass shards from his wound, healing him without another thought afterwards as she turned back to Kol, almost expecting him to be gone again. 

She felt Rebekah move closer to Matt, so she stepped forwards, in front of them as Kol's blank expression finally gave way to his signature smirk as he climbed down the stairs to face her. “You were the one who said I should keep it interesting, darling.” 

She couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes, as she huffed, felling strangely fond. “Not like this, you idiot.” 

“What would you do if  _ you _ came back from the dead, Lissa? I’ve had a long time to think about it.” His expression darkened as his eyes glanced over her shoulder. “I find that Revenge most often is at the top of my list.” 

Oh. Her heart stuttered but she met his eyes cooly, amusement gone. “Look, I’m sorry I let you die, but revenge isn't the answer, Kol. I’ve told you before that I’ll make you regret it.”

“You think I’d hur-” Kol frowned, shaking his head. “You think I blame  _ you _ for my death? No, no, darling. That blame lies only with Elena, her brother and her little friends.” He strode past her to face a teary Rebekah.  “Now seeing as my killer’s already dead, I was thinking that his sister is just as culpable. Especially since I do remember her being quite dreadful to Lissa here - breaking her back, stabbing her and whatnot.” Kol leaned closer to Matt, tone now low with fury. _“So tell me where I can find her.”_

Annalise could tell this had the potential to go down  _ really  _ badly, judging by the grim and defiant set to Matt’s lips and Kol’s hands clenching almost white with anger. 

Now this was something she hadn’t missed. 

She stepped in his way, pushing him back slightly. His glare lessened but still bore into her one narrowed eyes. “What have I told you about getting in the way, darling?” 

“Just stop. Stop for a minute and realise that you’re  _ here _ right now.” Annalise looked back towards Rebekah - her friend only shot her an uncertain nod seeing as Kol did, in fact, stop. Annalise turned back to Kol. “You’re here and it’s miraculous and amazing, but all you’re focused on is freaking revenge.” 

Kol hissed back in frustration. “Do you have a better alternative, darling?” 

“Yes!” She threw her hands up in the air. “ _ Staying  _ alive.” His eyes widened as he looked at her, gaze flicking between her sincere expression and the hand she now offered him. “We don’t have much time, but I’ve got some ideas I want to run by you. You know magic better than anybody I know - just please, I’m trying to help you.” 

Kol faltered, his heavy brow furrowing as he clenched his jaw. Annalise saw his eyes narrow at Matt and Rebekah over her shoulder, then at her own hand that stayed slightly outstretched. 

After a prolonged moment, Annalise felt Kol’s hand land gently in hers and she breathed a small sigh of relief. 

Flashing a small smile over her shoulders at her friends, the next second, they appeared in her favourite study, missing Rebekah's considering look aimed at their joined hands.

Annalise flicked her wrist at the cold fireplace, making it roar to life, before stepping carefully over her piles of carefully crafted research to the specific papers she had managed to list all her solutions on. When she looked back at Kol, he was still staring at the large necromancy tomes spread open on various pages, and the 3 relatively large piles of paper on one sofa. 

“You did this for me?” 

His gaze studied her heavily as Annalise shrugged awkwardly. “Yeah…um. I see now I might have obsessed about it a bit. I felt like it was my fault, ‘cos y’know, I sent you over to the Gilberts, and I fought against what you wanted to do. Then Silas messed around in my head, and that really didn’t make anything better, so…uh. Here we are.” 

Kol tilted his head with a small grin. “Here we are.” 

Annalise grinned back slightly, before approaching him once more with the papers. “Okay, so, uh…disclaimer. Bonnie’s gonna try resurrecting Jeremy tonight since his spirit’s on the other side like yours, but I don’t think she’d be able to.” Annalise looked away ashamedly.

“Bonnie wouldn’t listen to me, but she’s got a ton of Expression on her side, and all that’s gonna snap back on her as soon as she over-exerts herself, so I need to get there before it does.” 

“And you can’t just take her dark magic now?” Kol questioned, not maliciously, but as if he was addressing a fact. Annailse immediately shook her head vehemently. 

“No. No way. I can’t do that to her. I can’t take away her one chance at getting the boy she loves back. You don’t hate me for that, do you?” 

“Never.” Kol smirked, eyes taking on a wicked tint. “Though maybe I could pay her a visit myself. I could be a bit more convincing”

“No.” Annalise glared at Kol, threateningly crossing her arms. “That’s not happening. Plus, she’d land you on your ass and I just got you back.” She missed his gaze soften as she pointed to her list. “Look, I have other options. Here.” Annalise handed him the small list of options with her notes scribbled in the bare areas. He raised an eyebrow at her as he sat – Annalise sat quickly on the couch opposite him. 

“Okay so…first option. Necromancy. Shady magic, and dark as hell – it’s a branch of sacrificial magic. I was thinking I could, ahh...find a nice lamb. Or a goat. But both are so cute so I wasn’t sure-” 

“This isn’t going to work.” Kol shook his head resolutely. 

Annalise frowned, taken aback by his immediate dismissal. “Okay…what about the next one? Its transferral magic – I put your soul in a temporary body until I restore yours. Lik-like a vessel. Your brother’s kinda done it before, but he switched his soul before he died technically so...” She trailed off awkwardly as Kol shook his head again.

“No, darling, next.” 

Annalise stumbled over her words, not expecting this kind of resistance. “Uh…that’s where it starts to get tricky. There’s a bunch of reanimation spells, but they’re all temporary and side effects include a rapid deterioration into psychosis. Think angry zombies. I wouldn’t recommend that for someone of your species. Or your temperament, if we’re being completely honest.”

Kol smirked widely, eyes brightening in amusement as he nodded in agreement. “That’s definitely a valid concern.” He pointed down at the paper. “Why does this say New Orleans with a question mark next to it?” 

Annalise cleared her throat. “It’s uh…where Klaus and Elijah are right now, it gave me an idea. The French Quarter witches are a historically horrible bunch but uh...they have this thing called an Ancestral Well – it traps the spirits of all their consecrated predecessors.” Kol nodded as if he already knew what she was talking about – he probably did. “If some spirits are strong enough, they can materialise because technically the Ancestral Well is located on this side of the veil.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t think it’s a good idea though. They probably won’t let a vampire resurrect, and I doubt you want to be stuck in a ghost world filled with dead witches who historically hate vampires.” 

“Hm…I’d rather be alive, or as close to alive as I normally would be, Lissa. No to this as well.” 

“Well, the only other idea I have is transferring your soul into a Talisman, then putting it back in your body once it’s been restored.” 

Kol shrugged. “That might work, but well-spelled talismans are hard to come by.” 

Annalise stood with a huff and started pacing. “I guess I could do the resurrection spell myself – I have enough energy – I saw I stopped you dying, even for a second.” 

“There’s a difference between stopping death and reversing it, darling.” Kol stood too, watching Annalise pace. “The resurrection spell you talk of draws directly on your magic, your life force. Nature demands a life for a life.” 

“The laws of nature don’t apply to me. I’ll find a way around it, that doesn’t matter.” 

“It does to me.” 

Annalise paused, looking at Kol strangely. “Kol, the veil’s  _ completely _ down in Mystic Falls. We’ll most likely never get a chance like this again. I have to at least  _ try. _ ” 

Kol’s eyes softened gradually as her voice broke, he stepped closer, hesitantly drawing her into a hug. Her arms wound around him tightly, pressing her head further against his chest. The slight smell of dusty linen, a woodsy smell and  _ death  _ permeated her nose as she burrowed her face deeper, feeling him exhale slowly. His chin moved gently against her forehead as he spoke.“Lissa, you’ve done more for me since I’ve died than anyone’s done for me my whole life.” 

Annalise chuckled weakly. “That’s pretty shitty Kol.” 

She felt Kol’s chest move against her cheek in slight laughter before it died. He gently pushed her away, still holding on to her arms. Annalise’s arms around his waist loosened as she looked up at him in question, but didn’t fall away completely. 

“I watched my brother grieve, my sister, then you. Why do you  _ care _ ?” 

“Because you’re my friend. Because I just do.” Annalise smiled sadly as she looked away. “All my life no one’s ever mattered to me the way you guys do, the way you do. You helped me get back to my feet after the medallion, but I returned the favour by getting you killed.” She smiled callously at herself in bitter contempt. 

“That wasn’t-” 

“We both know I could’ve done more, moved faster, not actively tried to save them when they were planning to  _ kill you-” _

“And you wouldn’t have been able to live with yourself if I  _ had  _ killed them darling.” He caught her chin between his thumb and index finger, tilting her head up slightly. Annalise’s breath caught as she realised that Kol’s eyes weren’t as dark as she’d thought they were - in fact, the firelight reflecting off them made them look a rich shade of amber. She distantly realised that he was also a lot closer than he had initially been, his next words spoken nearly under his breath sounded nearly as loud as the blood rushing through her ears. “Let’s be honest, darling. Stubborn as you are, you do generally tend to get attached to people I’m trying to kill.” 

“I don’t get attached, idiot.” Annalise rolled her eyes fondly, smiling. “It’s called being a decent person.” 

Her eyes subconsciously drew to how his lips lifted into her favourite smirk. “Well, I wouldn’t know.” 

A low buzz from Annalise’s pocket had her startling out of Kol’s hold, digging deep into her jacket pocket to avoid letting Kol see the dark blush spread across her face. What the hell was _ that?!? _

Her heart refused to stop beating rapidly as she answered the call, still facing away from Kol, who unlike her, hadn’t moved an inch from where he stood. 

“Bonnie?”

“Lissie, Help!  _ Silas is-!”  _

The dial tone filled the staticky silence left behind by Bonnie’s panicked and abrupt yell for help. Fuck. A cold chill dousd the warm feeling that had erupted in her chest as she steadied herself to teleport to the young girl on reflex. 

“Lissa, don’t.” Kol’s hands had found her arms once more, turning her to him with a tight grip. “You seem to have forgotten the fact that there’s a prophecy floating around that you  _ die. _ ”

“That prophecy means  _ shit-all  _ Kol, Silas told me I wasn’t even a deity, so let me go, or you’re coming with me.” 

Kol’s eyes grew dark and narrowed, but he held on to her tighter – she narrowed her own eyes defiantly, but wordlessly teleported them to the caves where she had left Bonnie behind. 

Stefan was crouching over Bonnie, who had fallen onto her knees, choking. A familiar energy brushed up against her senses – that wasn’t Stefan.  _ Silas.  _

Annalise focused a wave of her magic at Silas, and he was launched backwards, hitting the wall with a crack, then falling to his knees, laughing. His eyes flicked over her shoulder to Kol as she hurried to Bonnie’s side. “Late to the party, Lissie. I see you’ve located your dead...friend, is it?”

“What the hell are you doing, Silas?” Annalise crouched next to the gasping young girl, placing her hand on her neck to feel for any injuries to heal. “We were helping you. Take the cure, and  _ fucking  _ die already.” 

Silas chuckled getting to his feet. “I can’t, see, because the two of you have conspired behind my back. I need the veil dropped completely, and little Bonnie wasn’t being very cooperative. I hope you didn’t know she was calling on my dear friend Tessa to come manage me.” 

Annalise’s eyes widened in comprehension. Shit, that was what Bonnie had meant when she said she had a plan, it must have been her that Bonnie was looking for when she’d used the stone and the location spell. She should’ve known when Bonnie had asked to borrow Caelesti’s book.  Qetsiyah had defeated Silas once before, created the Five to make sure he dies...would it be that far of a stretch to hope she’d still be holding her grudge this whole time? Using her blood magic to fuel the spell gave her an anchor to this side – an added benefit it seems. There was no reason why Qetsiyah wouldn’t come to their aid. She focused on the first part of Silas’s statement. 

“What do you mean? The veil  _ is  _ dropped completely within the triangle – the worlds have merged; I feel it.” 

Bonnie stopped choking, finally breathing normally again. Annalise let out an internal sigh of relief at having shifted Silas’ concentration. She turned her attention to Silas fully as Kol moved to flank her. 

Silas raised an interested eyebrow at her reply. “What you  _ felt _ was the cold draft of death hitting the Earth dear Lissie. Your connection must be stronger than I gave you credit for. Well, anyway,” Silas shrugged, walking closer. “Think about it – Mystic falls is currently a gaping hole into the Other Side – it’s a doorway. The rest of the wall still exists though, and I need it  _ demolished.  _ That’s how you make two rooms into one room, you see, not by creating a door, but by knocking the entire wall down, you follow? As it stands I can’t take the cure safely.” Silas pouted; the expression looked severely out of place on Stefan’s normally stern face. “Finish the spell.”

Annalise glared. “We can’t do that. She’s struggling as it is, the physical toll of destroying the veil would destroy Bonnie-” 

“Here’s an incentive for her then.” 

Silas smirked, then all at once, heat erupted up Annalise’s right arm. She let out a short scream of agony as she heard her bones crack and snap in quick succession, waves of white blinding pain filled her vision as she stumbled back. Arms came to steady her as she folded in on herself, cradling her broken limb. 

She felt Kol stiffen, then step forwards as if to attack. “Ah, ah, ah~ One step more, then I break her neck.” Silas said in singsong as he walked closer. Kol’s grip tightened around her, but he ceased moving. 

Her vision cleared the smallest amount, still obscured by the tears built up in her eyes. Bonnie was staring at her unnaturally bent arm, horrified, as Silas walked closer shrugging. “I really did try to keep the damage to you to a minimum, after all, you  _ were  _ supposed to be my best friend; yet you still hold out hope for someone who abandoned you and I am so very hurt. So, naturally, I broke your arm. For every five minutes your little friend refuses to completely drop the veil, you’ll break another limb. Do keep in mind though, you’ve only really got four limbs, so I’ll be forced to get creative after twenty minutes.” 

“Bonnie? Peach? You down there?” Annalise faintly registered Damon’s nervous but somehow still obnoxious call echoing in the network of tunnels behind them. 

Silas’s smirk widened in glee. “That sounds familiar. I think I’m going to go have some fun.” He turned to Bonnie. “Do remember Lissie’s little countdown won’t you? I’d really hate to have her out of the running. Tick tock!” 

With that, Silas walked out of the large cavern with a pep in his step. Annalise groaned as Kol’s arm brushed against her hurt one as he settled her gently on the ground. Bonnie had tears in her eyes as she moved to crouch down next to her. “I’m so sorry Lissie, I can’t-”

“You don’t need to sweetheart.” Annalise blinked her tears back. “I’ve been through worse. Silas won’t kill me – he needs me for something. You need to stop him.” 

“How?”

“Use your Expression, Bonnie Bennet.” An older woman appeared in the cavern; Bonnie whipped around in shock.

“Grams?” Bonnie was on her feet the next second, embracing the softly chuckling woman tightly. “I was worried about you.” 

Annalise turned to Kol to give the pair privacy, offering him a weak smirk. “So, life as exciting as you remember it?” 

Kol glowered. “I warned you-”

“And I didn’t listen. I tend to do that often. Sorry.” Annalise winced, her breath stuttered as she went to shrug out of reflex and moved her injured arm instead. She frowned down at it. “My magic should’ve finished healing this by now. Here, help me stand?” 

Kol gently lifted her to her feet, steadying her slightly. Lis smiled at him quickly in thanks, before turning over to Bonnie. “I really do hate to interrupt, but uh…I think Silas is trying to kill Damon right about now.” 

Bonnie ran a stressed hand through her hair. “I don’t know how to stop him. Qetsiyah was able to immobilize him so he couldn’t feed and get into people’s heads.” Lis noticed Kol look down at her broken arm in consideration as Bonnie continued. “I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to put him down.”

“You do. You just haven’t considered it yet.” Kol regarded Bonnie shrewdly as he spoke. “I’ve seen witches practice Expression. It’s a manifestation of your will. So all you need to do is  _ will _ him to turn to stone.”

Annalise’s lips thinned as she considered it; was Bonnie powerful enough? This wasn’t a permanent solution by any means because Silas could just as well rise again. Should they really risk Bonnie’s life just to buy more time?  Bonnie looked towards her grandmother who was looking at Kol with a reluctant expression. “As much as I hate to say it, he’s right, Bonnie, you can do anything. I don’t like it, but sometimes there are no choices. You are strong enough. You can do this.” 

Annalise gripped Bonnie’s arm in reassurance with her good one, smiling confidently. “I’ve seen you practically master Expression, Bon. You don’t need me anymore, but I’m gonna be right beside you. Come on, let’s go get this son of a bitch.” 

Sheila Bennett smiled supportively at her granddaughter, then disappeared into thin air the newt moment. Bonnie inhaled sharply, taking a moment to collect herself before nodding in determination and leading the way out of the larger cavern. Annalise made to follow, but Kol pulled her back – Annalise winced as her bad arm shifted. He frowned at it. “Lissa, I do believe your injury’s psychosomatic.” 

Annalise paused, narrowing her eyes before thinking for a moment then rolling them. “Of course, I’m so stupid - that’s why my magic isn’t healing it, there’s nothing to heal. It still hurts like a bitch though.” She shook her head. “I don’t have time for this, I need to make sure Bonnie’s okay. This doesn’t matter, ‘cos as soon as Silas’s all raisin-ed up, I’m sure I’ll be a lot more comfortable. Come on.”

They ran behind Bonnie for a couple minutes, following the sounds of a struggle echo off the walls along with their hurrying footsteps. Annalise winced, trying to ignore the burning pain of her arm jostling every time she took a hurried step - _ it isn’t real, it isn’t real.  _

There. Alaric was on the ground, being choked on his knees by Damon ruthlessly tightening a length of chain around his neck. Thankfully Annalise was able to quickly register that it was Silas on the ground. “Bonnie, Alaric’s Silas, go!”

“I may not be able to kill you, but I will stop you.” With a single determined nod, the witch held out her hands; closing her eyes as she concentrated, manifesting her will into being. “I  _ will  _ make the blood clot in your veins. I  _ will  _ make every bone, muscle, and joint in your body to stone. You  _ won’t  _ have the power over us anymore.” 

Large gusts of wind lifted Bonnie’s hair away from her face as Lis felt the extreme power and pull of the Expression around them, consolidating around Silas, who was now groaning on the ground. In an aborted movement, Silas twisted his hand and Annalise suddenly found herself teleporting to his side without meaning to, her head tilted to the side without her consent. 

Silas was controlling her psychically. 

Her terrified eyes made contact with Kol’s shocked ones as Silas bit viciously at her neck. Bonnie yelled, and all at once Annalise felt the air around them get even more stifling. Annalise also noticed the stone creeping up Alaric’s hand slow, then recede all at once, as if he was resisting Bonnie’s magic using  _ her _ blood. Her arms remained unresponsive no matter how much she tried to move them. 

Annalise felt her eyelids flutter as she felt the drag of blood out of her increase. Silas deepened the bite, he was standing now, still holding her limply. 

Kol’s eyes had grown desperate, but he wasn’t moving. It appeared he couldn’t. His eyes were all Annalise could focus on. They were deep, so deep and they were  _ begging  _ her to fight.  _ How?  _ She…she couldn’t move. It-was getting harder to  _ think, she was losing too much blood- _

_ Oh. Kol wants her to use her magic. Duh. _

__

Annalise shut her eyes, and she heard Bonnie scream in frustration, channelling even more power – Annalise worried the girl might  _ die, she had to do something.  _ Her magic was leaving her body, fast; she couldn’t hold on she  _ couldn’t- _

She latched onto any magic she could – there was a large pool behind her – _Silas-_ she winced, then **_pulled._**

All at once, it felt as though a vacuum was all that existed within her – she felt her magic rush into her tenfold, along with Silas’s own sickly magic, and Bonnie’s corrupted energy. She screamed as the dark magic flowed into her, through her mouth, through her mind through her limbs which were all in contact with the sharp stone ground below – she had fallen on her hands and knees where Silas had dropped her. 

As the ringing in her ears reduced she was able to hear Bonnie yell with more strength in her voice, so she stopped pulling – Silas felt weaker. 

Annalise heaved deeply on the ground, her broken arm didn’t hurt anymore; and it was deceptively easy to stand up – she felt as though her skin was buzzing uneasily, her mind felt heavy, it was hard to concentrate. Her neck twinged slightly as her wound is healed up. 

That pain had brought back bad memories, and now Lis was  _ livid.  _

She hadn’t even noticed that Bonnie had moved to stand right beside her as Annalise faced Silas too. He liked draining people  _ huh?  _ She was gonna make sure he had a taste of his own medicine. A sharp grin pulled her smirk up as she saw Damon exchange an uneasy glance with Kol at her silver eyes and her angry scowl. They were worried. They shouldn’t be. 

Silas  _ should. _

__

She lifted her hands in mimicry of Bonnie next to her. “ _ Arida Mortusest!” _

Annalise felt a vengeful smirk tug at her lips as Silas’s skin grew ashen with renewed vigour – any resistance he’d built up to Bonnie’s magic using  _ her _ blood was long gone, now with the combined power of both girls – he was drying up,  _ fast.  _ Annalise felt a sick apathy fill her being, alongside the dark magic festering inside her – It’s not that she  _ wanted  _ Silas to suffer, she was just...indifferent to it. As long as he just stopped with his half-answers and threats to her precious people.

Silas’s face flickered, revealing something uglier and more scarred under the illusion, strangely familiar in a way that made Lis pause, but Silas had lifted his hardened hands to his face almost immediately, blocking it from their view. With one last yell and a surge of power both dark and light, Silas was a rock-solid statue, cowering against the stone wall behind him. 

The sudden stop in magic made her stumble in the awed silence. 

“What the hell just happened? Wha-what was that face-off moment he had?” 

Damon’s questions echoed off the cave walls in the wake of Silas’s abruptly ceased screams, and Bonnie turned to him tiredly. “He couldn’t hide behind mid-control; not after Lis helped -um…take care of him. He was becoming his true self.” 

“Who exactly might his true self be?” 

“I guess we’ll never know.” 

Kol had approached Annalise almost silently – she hadn’t shifted a muscle after the attack had ended. “Lissa?” 

Annalise flinched away from his hesitant touch on her arm. “Don’t. I-I’m angry again. I  _ don’t want to be angry again.”  _

“Okay…I vote we get away from psycho peaches.” Damon lifted a nonchalant arm as if volunteering a great idea, turning to Bonnie. 

Bonnie shook her head, moving closer to her. “What exactly did you do to Silas, Lissie?”

Annalise finally turned to face everyone behind her with a grin that was just a touch too sharp. “He was draining me, so I returned the favour.” 

Despite the confident drawl to her voice, Annalise swayed unsteadily on her feet/ Bonnie moved without hesitation, pulling Lis’ arm over her shoulder and taking her weight. “Well, you might have your magic back, but not your blood. You need to rest. Use your ring.” 

“No.” Annalise ripped her arm from Bonnie’s, Kol made another aborted gesture to move closer to her. She looked away from him ashamedly. “I can’t rest, Bon, this  _ shit,  _ it feels like it’s moving under my skin. It’s too much for the ring - it’s not doing anything. I-I need to get it out of me.” 

Bonnie looked lost, but Kol nodded to himself. “I can deal with this – you two, make sure you dispose of this body well; I will personally make your life a living hell if you let Silas rise again.”  Bonnie nodded unsurely, Damon just rolled his eyes, so Kol took that as an agreement before turning to Lissie. "You need to take us back home.” 

Annalise shook her head with a scowl. “Hell no. That place only makes me angry I can’t-”

“Stop.” Kol’s hands were clutching hers gently as his dark eyes looked sincerely into hers. “Trust me.” 

A beat passed, reminiscent of the time when Kol managed to calm her down, but then Annalise felt her anger return with vengeance. He was  _ dead  _ now, he couldn’t calm her down because he wasn't even _alive_ and it was all _her fault-_

Bonnie’s voice interrupted her train of thought. “Lissie.  _ Go _ . I’ll be fine, take care of yourself.” Angry tears filled her eyes, but she nodded. 

“Fine.” She hissed. The next second they were in her bedroom. 

She scowled, ripping her hands away from his. “ _ Happy?  _ This isn’t like last time, Kol. You can’t just listen to music with me and  _ make it go away _ .” 

“Lissa, stop,” Kol grabbed her again, gently making her sit on her bed. She complied, glaring at him acidly. “Hey, calm down.” 

“Oh that’s  _ easy, why the  _ fuck  _ didn’t I think of that?!”  _ She spat. “Kol you weren’t here, I need to-to use this magic up o-or it  _ eats  _ away at me and I  _ crave it more,  _ I  _ need  _ to get rid of it.” 

“I know, I know, love. Just please, don’t throw lightning at me.” A small smirk graced his lips. 

A nnalise huffed, raising a distracted eyebrow. “You saw that?” 

“Of course I did, love. There wasn’t much to do other than plot the Gilberts’ demise, watch my family move on, and watch you fight Silas at every turn, figuring out how to help me.” 

Annalise frowned looking at the floor. “Fat lot of good that did, you said no to everything.  _ Why? _ Don’t you wanna live again?” When she looked back up at him, her angry tears had returned. Kol’s smile had fallen. 

“More than anything.” He shook his head as he spoke softly. “But all those spells require some form of dark magic, and normally I’d never think twice; hell, I helped a coven create a small treasure-hoard of dark-magic objects, but watching what it  _ does  _ to you? I can’t have that happen, Lissa.” 

“Why?” Annalise scowled at him. “That’s  _ not  _ your decision to make.” 

“It’s what friends do, right? Care about each other?” 

Annalise’s eyes widened as her breath caught, but then realisation hit her, making her grip his hand tightly. “Kol, Kol I have dark magic that I need to get rid of, I-”

“No, no.” He stood immediately understanding her train of thought and refusing, edging backwards. “You may have more magic, love, but remember what I said about the price? A life for a lif-”

“Hey, hey. I’m not suicidal, Kol." Annalise stood in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, cutting his words. "I don’t- I don’t wanna  _ die.  _ I just, I want to try. I’ll stop if it gets too much, I promise.” 

He looked at her with his impossibly dark gaze, unbelievable now that she knew his eyes looked like liquid amber, his nostrils flared as he let out an annoyed huff. “What if you don’t stop?” 

Lis managed to pass him a small smile. “I have you, don’t I? I trust you; I trust you’ll stop me if it gets too much.” 

He stared at her for a moment longer, then nodded to himself, running a stressed hand through his hair. “Okay, okay but give me your word you'll stop when I tell you to.” 

An anticipatory grin lit up her face. “Cross my heart.” 

“Fine.” He managed a small hopeful grin himself. “Come over here.” He moved her to the window in the light of the near full moon, holding out his hands. Annalise raised an eyebrow, moving over to him with an uncertain grin. He shrugged as she put her hands in his. “The moon, a celestial body you can draw on, in an emergency, Lissa.” 

Annalise felt an impossibly soft smile lift her lips slightly, even as the sickly fizz of the dark magic bubbled angrily in her veins. “Sure, Kol.” 

Feeling strength from the small gesture, she shut her eyes, reaching for her corrupted magic with a grimace while opening her senses to nature tinged with the feeling of death from the Other Side with a sigh. Kol’s hands tightened around her own, and she was reminded of the night of the Mikaelson ball when she’d first shown him her magic. 

She had to help him, bring him back. 

Weaponizing her wish, she concentrated all her power on pulling Kol’s energy to this side. 

Magic exited her in a rush – with a great whoosh – it felt as though her legs were kicked out from under her in a tidal wave of power that  _ scraped  _ against her painfully as it flowed past,  _ through _ her, despite the fact that she knew in her mind that she hadn’t moved a single inch. It was disorientating, as she was caught up, hurtling through the death magic of the Other Side as she felt herself open to it – old magic that  _ felt like it was drowning her, draining her.  _ She felt as though she was dissolving – her power slipping out of her own grasp into the empty void the Other Side offered. _ Was this what Silas felt? _

__ She heaved under the flattening weight of another  _ world,  _ trying to grip onto Kol’s steady presence in front of her, draw him to her, into  _ her  _ world,  trying to keep a hold of her own magic – but both tasks were proving impossible as it felt as though they were small flickering flames of candle light against a raging storm and she was trying to grip at the weak,  _ cold  _ flames with stiff hands, and she  _ couldn’t- _

__

She felt something rip out of her hands, and she sagged tiredly, falling into something firm. The worlds closed up, and she was Annalise once again, and not a leaf floating by under a bridge driven to who knows where by a cold unforgiving current. 

Annalise opened her eyes blearily, feeling lost, maybe empty, but not angry. She was leaning against someone on the ground, her face was tilted tiredly at the floor – her hands were bunched, grasping onto someone’s shirt. Lis felt as though she was home in her own skin again, though her skin didn’t quite look the same – her fingertips had taken on a dusty ashen hue, like she’d been eating an entire bag of black Cheetos. 

She'd touched death, and as with most magics, it had left a residue.

Her head lolled tiredly against something that moved, and arms circled her in an almost fragile manner. She blinked, trying to focus her gaze. “Kol? Did it work?” 

Below them, the large grandfather clock in the downstairs hallway chimed loudly – she counted out of habit. Huh…12 chimes. 

Annalise felt a puff of air brush past her ear as the arms around her tightened. She felt comfortable, and her eyes slowly shut without her permission, taking her away to a deep sleep. The final words she heard murmured into her ear blended into her own dreams. 

“Happy Birthday, darling.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)) I missed writing Kol hehe.  
> Lemme know what you think!!


	36. Graduation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year Guys!!  
> Normal Warnings apply :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!! ;)

Annalise had had a slow start to the day, and it _just_ might have been because of the fact that she’d tried to metaphysically grapple with the magic of both death and limbo after suffering just a  _ bit  _ of blood loss. 

Honestly she was surprised the fallout hadn’t been worse. 

The exhaustion wasn’t the only reason she was in a sour mood however. As Lis sat glumly on her floor with her back leaning against her bed, she balanced her coffee mug in one hand while dialling a familiar number on her phone with the other. Her eyes frequently drew to the beanbag chair in the corner of the room with a clear indent left behind by someone sitting on it, and Lis had a generally good idea of  _ who,  _ but he was no longer here, so it felt as though she was back at the square one. 

Her gaze drew to her window, watching the late morning sun rise gently higher, accompanied by peaceful birdsong. 

She couldn't believe how unthinkably simple she’d thought her world was. 

Annalise had felt at one with nature for such a long time, but she’d never really understood how  minuscule  she was compared to it – hell, she wasn’t even a speck of dust in the wind in terms of the pure  _ energy  _ that both worlds occupied. There wasn’t a single _ moment  _ where she felt as though she might win in what barely constituted as a tug of war. It was a massacre of her hope, her meagre self-confidence, and her determination; no matter how...familiar the magic of the Other Side had felt. 

That was something she’d have to revisit after all of this blows over - after all, how on earth did a supernatural limbo existing on an entirely different plane have the slightest possibility of feeling familiar, no matter how corrupted and twisted by death it had become?

But that was pushed to the back of her mind for now. 

Annalise’s eyes drifted back unbidden to the indent in the beanbag. 

The soft tinkling of her windchimes had greeted her groggy self in the morning, and as her ash-stained fingertips had rubbed at her eyes, she’d startled, and called for him in fear. He hadn’t come to her rescue, like he had so many times last night. 

In a blind panic, for the briefest of moments, cold fear had gripped her heart as the thought that Bonnie had raised the veil last night passed through her mind. If Bonnie had done so, like she had indeed been planning to - that would mean the closest chance she’d ever gotten to get Kol back would have been lost forever.

But then Annalise had frowned to herself - it certainly hadn’t  _ felt  _ as though the veil was back up. The feel of cool death still lingered in the air, tasting faintly of ozone and blood. That meant Bonnie hadn’t put the veil up last night, and that meant she still had a  _ chance.  _

And after yesterday, after seeing him in front of her and realising small things about him that she didn’t before - like the way he smelled, and the way his presence comforted her in a way she’d never realised - Lis knew that losing him again would hurt that much more. 

Her mind wandered to the...moment they’d shared the evening before. She was in no way blind to how good Kol looked; how completely and utterly handsome he was. He’d made her blush uncontrollably so many times she’d practically lost count - but she’d never entertained the idea of them being  _ more  _ than close friends. 

But...losing him had devastated her in a way that had only ever happened to her once before. 

The one time she’d thought she was in love. 

Fuck.

No, no there was no way. Kol and Annalise were  _ just  _ friends and nothing more. He was just naturally charming and of  _ course  _ he didn’t like her that way. 

They were friends...which was  _ perfectly fine, thank you very much. _

Plus there was still the  _ very  _ small hurdle of bringing him back to life.

Which then begged the question where the hell had Kol gone? Maybe he was avoiding her – maybe he hates her for giving him hope, then failing.  Lis’ call to the witch went straight to voicemail once more with a frustrating beep, breaking her out of her spiralling thoughts.  As she sipped her coffee, seriously debating whether or not she should take Damon’s advice and chuck a whole bottle of vodka in there, her phone buzzed suddenly. 

_ Thank god.  _ Bonnie.

__

She paused for a split second, still unaccustomed to the black tinge on her fingertips as she accepted the call, but she shook it from her mind, answering Bonnie’s voice. 

“Oh, I’m glad you’re okay. I’m so, so sorry about leaving, and snapping at you-”

Bonnie’s tinkling laughter tinged with something akin to sadness echoed down the line. “Hey, it’s okay. I told you to leave. I’m sorry I’ve been busy all morning with the Graduation Ceremony.”

“Oh my God, that slipped my mind. Congratulations B. How was it?” 

Her heart felt lighter at Bonnie’s laughter.  “It was good, Lissie. Really good.” Her almost nostalgic tone bordered on longing, but Annalise was distracted when Bonnie continued. “So, what did you need me for?” 

"Okay full disclosure, please don't freak out." Lis sighed, rubbing her forehead. “But..uh, I might or might not have tried to bring Kol back to life myself last night.”

_ “What, Lissie-”  _

Bonnie sounded so strangely panicked that Annalise rushed to calm her down.  “No, no, hey, it’s okay. I’m fine, Kol stopped me in time. Bon, I couldn't get him back. I was just calling to say that I know it sounds way too hypocritical, but I don’t think you should try with Jeremy. It might kill you.” 

A hollow huff echoed down the line, making he perk up slightly. Something was wrong. Lis frowned, thumb tapping nervously against the handle of her cup. “I also realised the veil was still down. I thought you were putting it up last night - you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Bonnie cleared her throat – she still sounded strange, despite her clear effort to appear otherwise. “I’m fine. I just hit a snag. I need to wait for the full moon tonight to put it back up. I’m just on my way to try again. It’ll hopefully be up by tonight.”

Annalise exhaled, feeling relieved that she still had a window to help Kol, then felt hurt that he’d just left her without an explanation. 

Nope – she had better things to worry about than a possibly murderous Original on the loose, right? 

Shit, she should probably track him down. 

“That’s fine.” Annalise hesitated as she asked about something that had bothered her for the last few day. “Bon? Silas said a couple days ago that you warned him away from me.”

“I did.” Bonnie sighed over the line. “I didn’t trust him, Lissie. I didn’t want him getting into your head and making you second-guess everything.” 

“That’s fair.” Lis let her head lean back against her bed as she ventured. “But protecting me should be the least of your worries, B.” 

A hollow laugh again. “Did you ever realise you had a knack for being right most of the time?” 

“Not that I’ve noticed. I seem to make mistake after mistake.” Her eyes fell to her mug. “Well, Want me to come down to the caves and offer a hand since Kol’s disappeared?” 

“ _ No!,  _ no, uh…no.” Bonnie rushed out in panic, “I’m ah…I’m fine. I need you to go to the graduation ceremony right now - something felt off about it when I left. Keep an eye on dad for me?” 

She frowned at Bonnie’s strangely insistent tone, then figured that she must have a good reason for it.  Reluctantly, Annalise sighed. “Right, okay. I’ll leave you alone for now, but I’ll be coming back to the caves tonight. I’m gonna be there for you when we end this, yeah?” 

“Yeah.” Bonnie echoed softly. “Thanks, Lissie, for being here.” 

“No worries, sweetheart.” 

-

The day was, quite honestly, beautiful. The sun shone brightly, and a soft breeze swept through the throngs of bright red graduation coats donned by the students milling around the school fields, and their matching square caps – the atmosphere was filled with an air of celebration alongside the happy laughter and the soft murmur from the crowd mingling now that the official ceremony was over.

It almost distracted her from the feeling of death lingering within the crowd. 

Annalise wasn’t able to track ghosts, for the obvious reason that they didn’t have life magic – but she  _ was _ able to sense places that had an unnatural  _ absence  _ of energy. It seemed Bonnie had been right.  Her eye caught Mayor Hopkins on an elevated wooden stage in the middle of the football field, talking to a few parents and students, and relief filled her briefly. 

He was fine for now. 

As her eyes swept back over the crowd, Lis’ heart fell as she recognised the vaguely familiar-looking women that she had once threatened – the witches of the final massacre.  Annalise - ready to go confront the witches now gathering at the edge of the field behind some bleachers - suddenly faltered. 

Her breath caught as she saw two people linger at the edge of the crowd. Heart in her throat, Annalise stepped onto the field, letting her feet steer herself towards them hesitantly. 

“Hi, guys.” Her voice broke, accompanied closely by her crumbling expression.

Alex and Mindy turned in near unison with large smiles on their faces, reaching almost immediately to draw her into a tight hug. The familiar feel of death and stale linen surrounded her, but she dismissed it as she stepped back, tearily smiling at her friends. “What are you guys doing here?” 

Mindy reached for her shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. “You’re our unfinished business, silly. You need to leave.” 

Annalise shook her head, confused. “No, no I saw those massacred witches, I need to make sure-”

“What you need to do is leave the Mikaelsons.” Alex interrupted grimly. “You need to make sure you survive this, Lissie. Mindy and I, we died because of Klaus. You need to leave this family as far behind you as you can.” 

“It’s true. We’ve seen you almost die for him,” 

“He’s not even here anymore-”

Mindy steam-rolled over her weak excuse. “For his  _ cause,  _ then. Lissie, you nearly died  _ last night  _ trying to bring back the dead. The old you would have never-”

“That’s not fair.” Annalise stepped back with a scowl defensively. The wind shifted, brushing through the carefully trimmed grass of the football field and past her short cream-coloured skirt with a louder whisper. This hadn’t been how she’d expected their reunion to go. “Look, I get where you’re coming from. But I’m still the same as I always was.” Lis crossed her arms, back hunching as she spoke. “So I dabbled in dark magic to save someone. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing.” 

“It is when you realise how self-destructive you’re being.” Alex frowned at her disapprovingly. Annalise shook her head tiredly, rubbing at her eyes as he implored, grabbing at her arms. “Open your eyes, Lis. Do what we never could.  _ Leave.”  _

Lis detached herself gently, tone turning less harsh as she let out a slow breath. “Look, I’m grateful I saw you guys again, I missed you, I really did. But I need to see this through – this is connected to me, my parents, my friends; I can’t just pack up and-”

Mindy clutched at her wrist desperately. “You  _ did  _ see this through. Silas is  _ gone  _ Lissie. You took care of it. What’s keeping you here? Leave before it’s too late,  _ please _ . You can’t stay here, not now. You’re  _ not safe _ .” 

Annalise’s eyes grew wide as she stuttered over her words at Mindy’s intensity. “I-I don’t,” She frowned, cutting herself off at a faint ringing she heard in the air along with a surge of dark magic over by the bleachers. “Look, I’ve got to go. It was good seeing you again.” 

With one last solemn nod at her old friends, she appeared under the steps in time to see Stefan, Caroline and Elena hunched over and yelling in pain as six witches chanted at them. The one at the front looked familiar – she was the lead witch who had tried to sink a dagger into Bonnie. 

Annalise stepped forwards, directing their attention to her. She braced, shifting her weight to her back leg that made her brown combat boots sink slightly into the soft grass, as the lead witch scowled heavily.

“ _ You.  _ You’re the traitor, the abomination.” She turned slightly to address her coven behind her. “Sisters, she held us in place as the other murdered us.  _ Kill her.”  _

The witches concentrated their collective power on her with a loud chant, but the pain Lis braced herself for never came. The twinge that flared up her back was meagre compared to the medallion, to her  _ back  _ being broken. It felt more like a pulled muscle more than anything. 

These witches were dead, and she wasn’t. Maybe that’s why their magic wasn’t affecting her like it should. As Lis smirked at them, the witches faltered, wondering why she wasn’t falling to the ground in agony. 

“Sorry." She shrugged, letting a smug smile pull at her lips. "My turn. _ Iaculatio.”  _

With a single push of her flat palm outwards towards the dead coven, she let out a concentrated blast of magic, throwing the ghosts stumbling back. She was preparing to put them to sleep when suddenly, the head witch’s head flew off in a blur of red, leaving her headless body teetering in a morbid manner. 

Annalise blanched. She hadn’t done that, had she? 

The ringing stopped and the trio straightened slowly next to her, watching the remaining witches cower in fear at something over her shoulder. 

Lis followed their line of vision.

White hot anger had her stiffening as Nik smirked, arms spread grandly. “There are plenty more of these to go around.” He held a bright red graduation cap in the air playfully. Threateningly. Looking bespoke in a custom suit, certainly dressed for the occasion, Nik’s eyes glinted in anger despite his light tone, yet they avoided her burning glare. “Who’s next? I can do this all day.” 

“You got my message.” Annalise’s scowl only deepened as Caroline’s pleased smile spread gently on her face. “You came.” 

“Your mistake.” A grim voice had them turning to face ten hybrids at their side - Adrian - a once quiet and subdued hybrid who’d not spoken more than a few words to her, glowered at a faltering Nik. “Turns out killing us in cold blood makes _you_ our unfinished business, Klaus.” 

Kimberly stepped forwards then, eyes trained on Annalise. “You should’ve taken Mindy’s out when you had the chance, Lis.” She tilted her head, crossing her arms confidently. “But then again, you were all about second chances, weren’t you?” Lis stared at her wordlessly, making the hybrid grin. “For old time’s sake then. Put my training to good use. Join us now and help us kill him.” 

Kimberly’s strong gaze was not one she’d ever thought she’d meet, and Annalise found herself lost for words at her...friend’s expectant tone. “I-,” 

Nik’s gaze burned into the side of her face. 

The loud chants of the witches filled the air once more and this time even Nik crumpled with a yell, clutching at his head. The hybrids wasted no time in lunging at him - Kimberly going straight for the heart as Adrian moved to hold him down. 

A shout from the other hybrids who were targeting Stefan, Caroline and Elena had them pausing. 

Annalise’s face - grim - betrayed her grief as she held the hybrids in place with one hand raised in the air. “Stop!  _Please!”_ Though she faced the witches, her eyes kept flicking to the arm Adrian had managed to wrap around Nik's neck as he crumpled in agony, and the stance that Kim took, ready to punch through his chest.

The witch that had stepped up after their prior leader had met a gruesome end was stained with blood spatter, painting a gruesome picture as she glared at Annalise. Her blue eyes sparked in fury as she twisted her wrist with a snarl, and this time, Annalise certainly felt more than a twinge, despite it still not being as debilitating as intended. Wincing through the pain, she making sure to look the blonde witch in the eye, yelling over the chanting. 

“I’ll take you back!” 

The witch stopped, narrowing her eyes. Good, that seemed to have gotten their attention. The coven behind her paused as well, watching as their de facto leader stepped towards Lis. Her sceptic silence lingering in the air between them prompted her to elaborate. “I’ll take your bodies back to your home, give you a proper burial with your friends, family and ancestors.” Annalise gained strength as the new witch faltered, and the witches behind her started exchanging longing glances. Her tone grew softer as she spoke more insistently. “You are servants of nature, and you’ve given your life for it. This won’t end the way you think it will. It won’t be glorious. Just...bloody.” Her eyes drifted down to the decapitated body at her feet. “There are ways other than revenge to reach peace.” 

The witch visibly swallowed uncertainly, glanced back at her sisters, then turned to Annalise again to offer a hesitant nod.  “My name’s Maya. You know of our ways.”

“I do.” Annalise swallowed heavily, throat feeling dry. “For what it's worth, I truly am sorry for the part I played in your deaths.” 

Maya studied her sternly before nodding once, this time stronger. “You would be the first.” Maya’s eyes flicked hatefully to Stefan, then Caroline before returning to Lis' gaze. “You have our thanks then, should you keep your word.” 

The witches lingered for a moment before disappearing the next, letting a breeze blow away the feel of death they brought with them. Her eyes caught Elena's, who surprisingly offered her a brief but thankful nod.

All of a sudden there was a ripping sound next to her and Adrian was on the ground, bleeding out with a gaping hole in his neck, eyes blank and wide. Kimberely screamed as Nik threw her back too with a furious yell, blood staining his sharpened fangs, eyes burning a bright gold. Now that the witches were gone, the hybrids no longer had an advantage.

They visibly cowered back as Nik roared. “You  _ dare  _ attack  _ me?!  _ Have you not learned what happens when you conspire against me?” 

Kimberly went to charge furiously at the awaiting Original Hybrid once more, but Annalise appeared in her way. 

She was greeted immediately with a punch to her cheek that sent her head snapping to the side and her vision going white, but she recovered enough to raise an arm instinctively to block the next punch to her ribs that would have left them broken.

Kimberly grinned at her in an unhinged manner. “Glad to see the lessons stuck.” She hissed, spittle landing on Lis’ bruised cheek. 

“Please-”

Kim cut through her pleading tone harshly. “I ran for my  _ life.  _ We all did. We were  _ hunted _ , cut down with a  _ fucking  _ sword and I spent my last moments  _ terrified of this monster.  _ If we were ever anything close to being friends, let me at him.” 

“You’ll  _ die. Permanently.”  _ Annalise raised her voice to address the hybrids at Kim’s back. “You won’t survive this again, please. Unless you want to relive your deaths,  _ please, g _ o.” There was a heavy silence, then the familiar faces disappeared solemnly, one by one until only Kim was left. Annalise blinked back the tears in her eyes as Kim’s expression remained strong despite the hopelessness that replaced the vindictive gleam burning in her eyes. 

Kim knew what awaited her as her eyes landed on Nik’s form over Lis’ shoulder. Her voice was rough as she still stood strong, and alone, staring down her maker.  “I've relieved my death countless times since I've died, Lis. I need to escape it. Please.” 

A hand tugged her to the side - Stefan. He gave her a small sympathetic nod, and Annalise could only imagine how distraught she looked to garner such a pitiful look from the vampire. She let him lead her and Elena away around the rafters set up on the perimeter of the field, and no one commented on the brief wet squelch that had her faltering. 

Annalise heaved deep breaths in, thankful that the field had emptied in the last few minutes. Even Rudy - with all his professional prowess as a mayor that was admittedly superior to Carol Lockwood's - would’ve had a hard time explaining away the dead bodies brutally murdered at the border of a high school graduation.

As she met young Elena’s eyes accidentally again, she realised they had turned disapproving once more. 

Had letting Kim walk to her death been a mistake? Defending Nik, even after he’d left her all alone? 

She didn’t even realise as Stefan and Elena left her with a quick goodbye, leaving her to her stewing thoughts. 

-

It was nearly dark now; a beautiful sunset burned orange and pink bands of colour into the sky as Lis sat silently on the empty bleachers, watching from a distance as Caroline and Nik conversed on the small graduation stage in the middle of the field below. 

She couldn’t see much from this far away, but she could see enough – she watched as he pulled a familiar letter from his jacket, a graduation letter, similar to the ones that Rebekah had been writing only a day prior. 

Of course. 

They conversed for a bit longer, Caroline’s happy laugh echoed through the empty field, and then the next second, the two of them blurred away. She felt a small breeze brush past her, then footsteps echo down to the stair she was sitting on. Annalise kept her gaze straight as Nik spoke. 

“I allowed for Tyler’s return.” 

“That’s nice.” A bitter grin quirked her lips. “Want a gold star?” 

“Kimberly knew what awaited her, it was her choice to die-”

“I’m well aware.” Her voice remained surprisingly stable, icy even, as she continued to look away. “That didn’t mean you had to kill her.” 

“I didn’t.” 

Annalise looked at her friend for the first time in nearly a month in surprise, noting the darker bags under his eyes as he approached closer. “You didn’t?”

“I put my hand through her chest, yes.” Her gaze shifted to his right hand, clearly having been cleaned despite the red tinge to it, and the brown lining a few fingernails. “But then I spoke to her. Apologised.” His lips lifted. “You could say she had a change in heart.” 

“How do I know you aren’t lying?” 

She didn’t miss Nik’s eyes flash in offence as she studied his expression, looking for the familiar tell of a blank gaze when he lied. There wasn’t one. “You hesitated, when Kimberly asked you to join them. I’ve lost your trust.” 

“Not lost your powers of deduction at least.” Annalise chuckled insincerely. “No, I don’t trust you. Not after what you did.” 

A low sigh sounded, then he had settled on the step, next to her. "I did not know-"

"A fucking _month,_ Nik _."_ She shifted, turning to face him as her anger bubbled thickly. “Four weeks of ignored calls, voicemails, and messages – but all it takes is one letter from your crush, huh? You come running to a town infested with your dead enemies?" Annalise chuckled incredulously. "I should’ve thought of that to begin with.”  Nik looked away silently, so she narrowed her eyes, prompting him further. “But I guess you  _ were  _ pretty busy, right? I hear congratulations are in order for the bun in the oven.  _ Katherine,  _ of all people, told me.” 

“Lissie, I-”

“You  _ left  _ me, Nik.” She tried to ignore how her voice broke. “You were my best friend, and you left me all alone. And I’ve just been running over everything in my head wondering where I went wrong, wondering  _ what I did  _ that made me mean so little to you.” 

"I didn't think- I thought Rebekah-" Nik cut himself off, own expression twisting with anger. “You yell at me, yet you welcome my sister in with open arms. She withheld information from you, kept you at a distance too. What has she done so differently that granted her a better welcome?” 

“She  _ apologized  _ you big fucking brat.” 

Nik faltered. “I daggered Elijah.” 

Oh, what a complete  _ fucking  _ child. He looked at her as if that explained why she had no right to be mad at him - as if it excused everything she endured when it would’ve hurt her less to endure it with him.  Annalise stood, raising her voice in disbelief. “You say that like it makes anything better, Nik! You don’t get to choose who you hurt more. You don’t get to compare.” Her voice trembled before she took a deep breath. “Just,  _ why?” _

Nik was quiet for a long moment. 

“New Orleans has become...less receptive of me, to put it lightly. It would’ve been best if I could limit the dan-”

“Limit the number of people there who meant anything to you. Your  _ weaknesses.  _ Huh.” Annalise grinned sarcastically. “Now why does that sound familiar?” 

His voice turned borderline desperate, and it tugged on Lis’s heart. “Family makes you  _ weak.  _ I need to fight this war alone; I need you to understand- _ ”  _

“No, family gives you something to  _ fight  _ for, Nik.  _ You  _ isolate yourself and make  _ yourself  _ weak. I hope to hell that you understand that  _ before  _ your child is born.” Annalise stood angrily, brushing the dirt off her jeans. 

“Your hand…” Nik’s gaze was caught on the permanent black soot that now decorated the tips of her finger. 

“Don’t act like you care.” Annalise immediately stuffed them deep in her pockets. 

Their argument lulled, as Lis looked away, she noticed out of her periphery that Nik was strangely thumbing something in his jacket pocket. It was probably Caroline’s invitation. Go figure. He stepped closer, stopping when Annalise’s eyes flashed in warning. “Look, the graduation, Caroline - that wasn’t why I came to-”

A loud buzzing reverberated from Lis’ pocket, cutting Nik’s voice off. Annalise glanced down at her phone, then answered in a rush.

“What is it?”

“Did you manage the graduation?” Bonnie asked, seemingly in a hurry. 

“Yeah.” Annalisse shifted away from Nik’s curious look, despite the fact that he definitely could still hear both sides of the phone call. “Kol wasn’t here though, I’m worried.” 

A sigh sounded from down the line. “Don’t be. He’s...been with me.” 

“With  _ you?”  _ Lis straightened, remembering Kol’s casual question of taking Bonnie’s power. “He hasn’t been messing with you, has he?” 

“It’s fine. He just tried to get the massacre witches to convince me to keep the veil down. I handled him.” 

_ “Handled? What-”  _

“Don’t worry about it.” Bonnie cut in reassuringly, and funny enough - Annalise believed her. If he’d gone after Bonnie, he’d probably deserved whatever she’d done to him. Plus, Bonnie knew how much Kol meant to her, Lis trusted her enough to know that she’d keep him unharmed. Relatively. “He’s trapped at the school, in the basement. I’m about to put the veil up, so I thought you might want to say your goodbyes.”

Her heart plummeted. 

“Wait, Bonnie,  _ now?  _ Can’t you wait for a bit longer? I still haven’t-”

“Lissie.” Bonnie cut in firmly. “Go to him, now. I’m sorry I didn’t give you more time.” 

Annalise ran a stressed hand through her hair, feeling tears prick her eyes at the helplessness she felt even as she shook her head. “No, no, B. This isn’t your fault. I’ll-I’ll be there to help soon, like I promised.” 

“No, no it’s okay.” Bonnie cut in. “I’ve got this.” A slow exhale. “Lissie?” 

“Yeah B?” 

“Thanks, again. For everything.” 

The line went dead. 

When Lis turned, she realised Nik stood closer, looking at her questioningly.

She passed him a strained shrug. “I don’t expect you wanna pay Kol a visit before he’s back across the veil? ‘Cos family makes you weak?”

Nik looked immediately regretful, but made no move to correct her.

Annalise felt the small amount of hope she had for a happy reunion break, along with her voice. She cleared her throat disappointedly. “Right. Well. You should go now if you don’t want to run into anyone else. I hope it all works out for you, Klaus.” 

She teleported away, leaving him standing there with a heavy frown set on his brow for a moment, before he too, blurred into the distance. The low “Happy Birthday, Lissie,” he muttered was lost to the wind.

-

Annalise made it to the boiler room in the school basement in a flash, not willing to waste any more time than necessary in hope she might still be able to salvage this.  As the metal door creaked open slowly, she found Kol angrily banging on something transparent in mid-air - teeth gritted in evident frustration. 

Right, Bonnie had trapped him in a boundary spell. 

Annalise crossed her arms as she raised an eyebrow at Kol, who faltered at her presence here, dark eyes widening. “So, not only did you leave without any explanation this morning which  _ worried me to no end,  _ but I also heard you conspired with a certain group of witches to threaten Bonnie into leaving the veil down? What the hell? I thought we were on the same page.” 

Kol shook his head in what seemed like fear, doing his best to approach her. “Love, you need to leave.” 

“What’s going on?” Lis immediately grew on edge at his tone, walking closer to easily passing through the boundary. It was designed to only hold  _ him  _ in after all. 

Kol paced worriedly without an answer so Annalise stepped in front of him, forcing him to face her. Something was wrong. He seemed... _ afraid.  _

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. I know you might be angry with me because I couldn’t bring you back last night, but I can rest, and recharge. I’m not gonna just give up, you hear me? You don’t need to be scared, I’m not always useless, I swear.” 

He smirked weakly in a familiar manner that made Lis feel like she was missing something important, then he took her lightly by her shoulders. “You’re never useless, Lissa. You save people, remember? Like that mayor, or that stupid doppelganger and her brother. You even saved my family from our horrible mother’s spells after a few days of knowing us. And what about that time in the hallway, when the Bennett witch lost control?” 

Annalise shook her head with a small shy grin. “That doesn’t count – you don’t know that would’ve hurt you.”

Kol reached up, tucking a stray curl behind her ear with a soft smirk, letting his hand linger. “You don’t know that it  _ wouldn’t _ have, either.” Annalise rolled her eyes, hoping that her face didn’t look as red as it felt. Kol’s gaze narrowed as his thumb brushed her cheek. “You have a bruise, darling.” 

“And Kim had a mean right hook.” She saw his brow furrow further and was overcome with the strangest need to smooth it. Annalise shook her head, trying to focus. She was in dangerous territory, and she needed to figure out how to bring him back.So Lis reached up, gently removing his distracting hand from her horribly warm face. “Don’t worry about it. We need to concentrate on keeping you here. I can keep looking. The veil – I can try- Silas said-” 

Kol’s expression grew dark and worried, and he drew her closer, hands clasped tightly on her arms once more.

“No, no, you can’t. There’s something else you need to know, Lissa. Bonnie-”

Annalise nodded impatiently. “I know, I know. She’s putting the veil up soon. We need to figure out something fast.” Her bitterness leaked into her voice. “Give me an alternative Kol, what can I do? I can’t lose everyone again. I can’t lose you again.” She sniffed, blinking back the sudden tears in her eyes in frustration. “There  _ must be something -” _

“There is something.” Kol’s large hands cupped her cheeks gently, Lis gripped on to his hands tightly, abandoning her panicking thought process in favour of committing to her memory how his thumb traced her cheek. “Close your eyes for me, darling. Concentrate.” 

Annalise shut her eyes tight with no hesitation, nodding resolutely, fingers curling tighter around Kol’s wrists. “Okay, now what?” 

The smell of books, something woody and _ cold death _ permeated her nose as she felt him step closer. Before she could question him once more, his grip had tightened on her face, tilting it upwards. Something soft pressed briefly against her unresponsive lips, pushing gently in a way that left her breathless. 

Inhaling sharply in shock, she drew back with wide eyes, and Kol let her, staring unsurely. Despite the dim lighting of the basement, she was close enough to see his amber eyes again, warm, but hardening ever so slowly the longer she stared at him with wide eyes. 

They were still close together, chests touching as they breathed. Wait. Nope. Silly her, she was holding her breath. 

Lis’s eyes flicked between his rapidly, her blood was rushing in her ears. Her heart was pounding too fast - sounding so deafeningly loud in her ears, but all she could think about was his uncertain kiss made her feel  _ right  _ again. 

One second passed. Then another. 

Then all at once, her hands reached upwards to his neck and Annalise was pulling him down to meet her lips. His hands trailed down from her cheeks to her waist responsively, immediately, grasping tightly at her peach jumper, pulling her closer until she felt like she was drowning in him. Lips chased hers deliciously as his eyelashes brushed against her cheek, and their noses nudged, making her smile. Her stomach did somersaults and she felt as though her heart melted into molten metal, burning away in her chest.

She felt him smile back and hold her tighter,  bending her pliantly as he kissed her harder, moulding himself closer, close enough for her to balance on her tiptoes and wrap her arms around his neck for purchase. Kol’s arms wrapped tightly around her small waist in response, bunching in the baggy jumper tightly, one hand tangling in her long hair and tugging slightly to angle her face further up into his, despite the fact that his lips never once left hers. Pressing her self closer, Annalise sighed into the kiss, letting one of her arms stay hooked around his neck while the other travelled to his chest, pushing away slightly after a lingering moment. 

Her lips were kissed once more before they separated wetly. 

Lis was trying to catch her breath as she hesitantly opened her eyes, trying to ignore the way his lips were so appealingly almost drawn to hers. Kol’s grip on her tightened further as she reflexively smiled at him – he grinned back. 

All at once reality slammed into Annalise, making her smile drop – “Kol, I can’t bring you back can I?” Her hand travelled to his jaw, caressing it. His hand quickly enveloped hers, pressing it tighter against his cheek. 

His jaw clenched under her hand as Kol smiled stiffly, shaking his head as his eyes bore into her own. 

“Lissa, there’s nothing more I’d rather do than keep kissing you, darling, but I’m afraid this is out of our hands.” He cut off her protests with another lingering kiss that had her clenching his jacket lapels tightly, even after he stopped, letting his forehead lean against hers. “There’s something you need to know; Bonnie told me not to tell you, but, you need to be safe. You need to leave.” 

Familiar fear filled his eyes again; fear  _ for her,  _ she realised.  “Kol?” Annalise frowned when the energy he was emitting suddenly changed, grew darker and fainter. She gripped his jacket tighter. “No, no you’re leaving. Please. You have to stay. You can’t leave.” She was breaking,  _ again,  _ and it hurt her heart. 

“It’s okay, Lissa. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. Hey, hey, listen to me.” She quieted, caught by his solemn dark eyes. “Bonnie’s dead.” 

Annalise paused, feeling as though the air around her had stilled as she tried to understand the words he just uttered. “No, no.” She whispered before exhaling shakily. “That’s not true,  _ she just called me. She can’t-”  _ A choked sob escaped her, as she shook her head in denial. He nodded at her slightly, before gently pressing his lips to her forehead, then holding her in a tight hug. “It’s okay, darling. But I need you to listen to me closely, right now, okay? She’s dead.” Another sob wracked her body as she curled further into the hug, Kol’s lips tightened into a flat line. “She’s dead, so that means Silas is awake once more, Lissa. You  _ need  _ to leave. Now. Silas will kill you for what you did to him.  _ Leave,  _ darling.” 

Annalise shook her head, wrapping her arms around him firmly, burying her face in his chest for a moment longer. 

A whimper escaped her when her hands no longer were able to grip on tightly to his jacket, she felt him dissolve into thin air under her touch. She felt herself stumble and lean against the wall in front of her, and her shoulders shook with the force of her sobs for a moment as she felt her grief overpower her. The melting warmth in her chest now  _ burned  _ painfully and she was drowning.

No, she had to keep moving, she  _ had to- _

Annalise straightened slowly, taking in deep shuddering breaths as she walked down through the door into the caves below.  _ It couldn’t be real. It has to be a mistake. Kol must’ve made a mistake. _

__

Wandering down into the cursed tunnels again felt surreal; almost as though she was floating. Her legs carried her down the tunnels without another thought, following the twists and turns almost robotically, until she came across the large cavern littered by hundreds of stumpy candles. Strangely enough, a sad silhouette of someone tall stood in the middle of the space, shoulders low and drooping. 

Annalise waved her wrist almost unconsciously, making all the unlit candles in the cave flare brightly as she approached what appeared to be a young man. 

He turned just as she reached him, “Jeremy?” Her breath caught, “-she did it, didn’t she? She brought you back?” 

His eyes were rimmed red as he sniffed, before he looked at the empty space next to her. Annalise nodded dumbly, not really feeling the tears rolling down her face once more, moving slightly around the boy. 

The body of Bonnie Bennett lay on the ground peacefully, as though she was fast asleep.

Her knees didn’t hurt against the sharp stone ground as she fell to them. She felt Jeremy join her with a quiet sniffle. 

Together, they mourned the death of the people they cared about in fragile silence. She didn’t know how long they sat there, staring off into the distance in their own silent worlds before Annalise caught herself, taking in a few shaky breaths, then calming down with steel in her eyes. 

Her mouth set in a grim line, cutting through the tears sliding down her cheeks. 

She had work to do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really sorta wanted to show how imperfect Lis was, and how much her insecurities control her. And of course *ahem THE KISS. OMG I know it's been a seriously long time coming, but again, I do wanna say that romance does take second-place to the friendships in this fic.  
> However - I do also wanna make a teeny announcement. I have started the rough drafts for Book 2 of the Caelis Connection series (yay!...I hope :D) and romance will definitely be the primary genre. hehe. But ye. That is all for now.  
> Hope you enjoyed!!! :)


	37. Always and Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all!!  
> Warnings: Strong Language, Graphic depictions of canon-typical violence, mentions of child abuse, slavery and abortion. 
> 
> Stepping slightly away from the TVDU for a second hehe. Hope you enjoy!

The screech of curtains against their metal rods had her blearily blinking up at the bright light warming her face.

“Ugh, wha-“

Jeremy’s critical expression greeted her as her vision finally adjusted, he squinted at her as she peered up at him in annoyance. Lis rolled her eyes with no little amount of attitude at being judged by someone several years her junior. “Well, good morning to you too sunshine.” His rolled his eyes right back before locking on to her right cheek – there was a small quirk of his lips upwards.

Annalise brushed at it automatically. “What? Was I drooling?”

“No, no you weren’t.” Jeremy grinned at her, all signs of his earlier judgement gone as he made his way past the large maps and piles of magic tomes that she’d checked out from her college. “I can’t believe you fell asleep on the coffee table again.”

Annalise groaned, stretching out her stiff muscles, and locating her glasses next to the mug of old left-over coffee, stiffly sliding them on. “You’d think I’d learn.”

“I’m not holding out hope.”

She reflected his light-hearted grin back, then frowned, feeling her cheek twinge in pain. Shrugging the thought away, she accepted the takeaway cup of fresh coffee Jeremy handed her as he sat down on the couch. He regarded the piles of her research with less hope than usual, smile dimming. “Any news? Find anything new?” Annalise shook her head lightly, looking away, and out to the beautiful lake that the Gilbert Lake House overlooked. Jeremy’s frustration showed through in his tone. “What about the witches then? Were they helpful?”

She grimaced subconsciously.

That had been a horrible experience in itself, and she wasn’t even talking about handling the dead bodies. Rudy had been able to give her the contact information of the larger coven the 12 dead witches had belonged to from Bonnie's mum. They’d provided her with an exact location to which she could teleport the bodies, but refused to help further. It made sense though – it was a last-ditch attempt.

After all, asking for any information pertaining to death and necromancy, all to bring back the witch practically responsible for the death of nearly half their coven would’ve been like adding salt to their fresh wounds. Annalise could’ve predicted them lashing out at her, but she still had to _try._

Too bad it didn’t yield any results, and it had left her with a sore arm still recovering from a particularly nasty cutting hex.

At least the souls of the witches would now be at peace.

Annalise shook her head silently in reply to Jeremy’s almost desperate eyes, rubbing at her forearm in remembrance.

Jeremy let his head fall into his hands, sighing heavily. “It’s been more than two months. Summer’s over today and Elena and Caroline are going off to Whitmore College. They’re gonna expect Bonnie to join them – w-what am I gonna say?” Lis scratched at the thick card of her paper cup as he looked briefly to the air slightly over her shoulder, shaking his head.

She recognised that look; he was looking at _her._ Lis took in a shaky inhale. “What’s Bonnie saying?”

“She wants me to help her write an email to Elena, let her know that she’s gonna be on her _trip_ for longer.”

Annalise sighed, turning in the direction Jeremy looked in. “I’m sorry, Bon. I’m trying. I really am.”

Jeremy smiled sadly as she turned. “She knows.” Frowning at the map that lay at the top of her notes on which she had circled the appearance of large spikes of magic near the quarry, he lifted it for a closer look. “What’s this?”

“Another dead end.” Annalise let her head hang backwards tiredly. “Those are just some random spikes of energy near the quarry I felt. It didn’t feel like Silas – probably some random witch just passing through. Useless.”

“So no news on Silas yet?”

She shook her head bitterly. “Nada. Nil. Less than nothing. I can’t sense him anywhere. Damon said Stefan had dropped him in the quarry. And we’d know that for _sure_ if Stefan fucking learnt how to pick up a call sometime soon. But if he _was_ dropped in the quarry - if we’re lucky his rock-ified body lays with the fishies, but if– if Kol was _right,_ and Bonnie’s death freed him; he wouldn’t die, he’s immortal.” Her hand rubbed at her forehead. “I don’t even know. He’d probably just be too busy drowning to do anything at this point, however horrible that sounds.”

Jeremy nodded along unsurely until a heavy knock on the front door startled them both. Exchanging a wary glance, they positioned themselves so as Jeremy answered the door, and Annalise stood slightly behind him to the side, braced to blow their visitor to kingdom come if the need arose. Well, or at least a few feet away and put them to sleep.

“Oh. You.”

“What a pleasant greeting. I’m swooning.” Rebekah crossed her arms with an attitude, raising her brows at Jeremy’s manners, or lack thereof.

Annalise grinned slightly, remembering him similarly greeting another Original in much the same way he did just now. Stepping out on to the porch, she hugged her friend. “Hey Bekah. How was your trip?”

“Fun, Lissie,” Rebekah put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes as she looked her up and down, “Something I don’t think you know the meaning of looking at that mess behind you, and that imprint of a pen in your cheek.”

Annalise turned an angry glare on a cheekily grinning Jeremy with a hand covering her cheek in embarrassment. “ _Dick.”_

Rebekah turned her attention back to her with a waning smile. “Elijah still isn’t picking up his phone.” She said worriedly.

Annalise winced delicately. “Well, I did tell you Klaus told me he daggered him.”

She proceeded to chew her cheek in worry at Rebekah’s anxious expression. “And I told you that Nik would un-dagger him sooner or later. He needs Elijah’s counsel regularly, no matter how much he tries to convince himself otherwise.” Rebekah shifted unsurely. “It’s just…I didn’t expect him to be daggered this long. I fear there may be more to this than what I initially thought.”

“What? So _now_ you’re worried? _After_ your vacation in Prague, or was it Budapest? Wait, no, Paris, right? After Germany?” Jeremy crossed his arms from where he was leaning against the front door, his cold smirk widened as Rebekah looked progressively more insulted.

“Maybe I just have better things to do than to get in the middle of my two bickering older brothers. I do have a life outside of my horrifying family, you know.” Rebekah smiled at Jeremy acidly. “Oh wait, you _wouldn’t_ know. Elena’s all you’ve got now that your little girlfriend’s dead.”

Jeremy stiffened, face going blank as he stepped towards Rebekah, fists clenched. Annalise got between them immediately, sending Rebekah a heated glare of her own. “Not cool, Beks.”

“Fine, sorry.” Rebekah apologized grudgingly, looking away before crossing her arms. “Look, I just wanted to let you know I’m going to go meet Nik. Make him regret it.” She looked back towards her parked cherry-red convertible; Annalise lost her heat as Rebekah turned back towards her with a casual smirk hiding her pleading gaze. “Want to join me?”

Annalise shook her head regretfully. “No, Bekah, I-I can’t. Silas might still be out there, and I still need to focus on Kol, and Bonnie-”

“No.” Jeremy was looking at the empty space behind her with a frown. “Uh…she wants you to go. You’ve exhausted pretty much everything here; you could use a break.”

“But Jer-”

“I don’t want you to stop.” He looked at her seriously, “I personally want you to keep looking. Maybe you might find more research in another city.”

Annalise felt her heart fill from the worry the young teen’s eyes held for Bonnie. It reminded her of Kol, and how in his last moments with her, he had-

Nope.

Annalise had been putting off thinking about him, his voice, his touch, his _kiss –_ for the entire summer. She could hold off until she got him back again.

Who said denial didn’t work? Definitely _not her!_ Healthy coping mechanisms for the win. Yay.

“Fine.” She nodded solemnly at the young boy before turning to Bekah. “Gimme ten?”

-

Annalise was nursing her hot chips, swirling one in a pool of ketchup as she frowned at the bar-top, deep in thought. Rebekah nudged her in the arm, making her jerk upwards.

“What?”

“Nothing, just grabbed a snack for the road.” Her friend smiled in amusement, licking at her slightly red-stained lips, before frowning. “Since when were you and baby Gilbert so chummy? You seem to have forgotten he was the reason Kol died.”

“Ha.” Annalise laughed hollowly, “Trust me. I haven’t. But he’s been through it too. Right now, I can’t afford to dwell on past mistakes, all that counts is that he helped me research the whole summer by digging through archives he could access, being a founding family member and all. I know it’s for Bonnie, but uh…he did apologize for Kol. That said - it didn’t really accomplish anything, because it felt wrong that he was apologizing to _me,_ but uh…it’s the thought that counts, right? He’s just a kid, trying to keep his family safe. He’s just coping.”

“Are you?” Annalise focused hard at the wooden grain on the bar top as Rebekah frowned at her. “You were quiet on the entire ride over; you didn’t even sing along to Hey Jude.”

Annalise crunched on the crispy chip with a sad smile. “I wasn’t really feeling it today, Beks.”

Rebekah studied her softly. “This got anything to do with the fact that you called my brother ‘ _Klaus’_ back at the Gilbert lodgings?”

Lis smiled ruefully, scooping another chip through the ketchup. “Maybe. Maybe it’s the fact that I can’t seem to help anyone. Or hey, maybe it’s ‘cos Bonnie’s dead, Silas might be alive, and Kol’s _still_ dead.”

Rebekah put her hands gently on her shoulders, wearing a stern, displeased expression on her young face. “All of that isn’t your burden to carry, Lissie. Silas is gone, and we can’t get Bonnie and Kol back. This is wrecking you - just leave it all be.”

Annalise rubbed a tired hand along her brow and sighed, not knowing how to break to Rebekah that Kol had freaking _kissed her,_ then proceeded to _die_ on her immediately afterwards. “I am now, aren’t I? I’m taking a break to help you get Elijah back. But I can’t give up any of it permanently, Bekah. It _is_ my responsibility.” She looked around the practically empty bar – seeing only a group of rowdy men in the corner occupy it, looking distracted by an apparently intense game of pool, she deemed it safe to light the small decorative candle next to her with a slight flick of her wrist. “I’m the _only_ one equipped to handle it, seeing as how the Mystic Falls gang just lost their resident witch and they don't even know it yet.”

Her friend frowned harder, but sighed, thankfully letting the matter go for now. Annalise smiled at her in gratitude, turning back to her chips as Rebekah spoke up. “Right, if we get back on the road now, we should reach New Orleans by nightfall.”

“So, you pretty girls are going to New Orleans, eh?” Annalise stiffened uncomfortably as she felt a man’s arm settle heavily around her shoulders – a startled glance at Rebekah showed that she too was surrounded by men, six to be exact. _Shit…_ to make matters worse, these men felt like vampires. It was a small mercy they still felt like decently young vampires – nothing the pair of them couldn’t handle, hopefully.

Rebekah narrowed her eyes into a formidable glare, appearing unfazed. “I fail to see that is your business.”

The young blond man with his arm around Lis’ shoulders appeared to be the leader here – he answered her with a sharp grin. “Well, you see, we heard you having an interesting conversation, and really, we couldn’t help but eavesdrop. You, gorgeous, are the sister of Klaus Mikaelson, and your little friend here,” he squeezed Lis’ shoulders threateningly, making her wince in discomfort as she glared at him in disdain. “is a witch. Now we are from New Orleans ourselves, and we _know_ that the like of the both of you won’t be very welcome in the Quarter, _especially_ witches.”

Annalise chuckled sarcastically. “What are you even on, mate? Last I heard, the witches of the French Quarter decided that, not some newbie vampire high on A-neg.”

The vampires laughed in a manner that clearly meant they were missing something important, before the one closest to Rebekah spoke up, eyes glinting dangerously. “New Orleans is under _new_ management now. Werewolves and witches aren’t welcome. Originals too - heard they're a nasty bunch.”

Rebekah’s eyes flashed to hers in concealed worry, Annalise nodded slightly. She’d picked up on that too – if werewolves weren’t welcome, Hayley and her child were in danger. Outwardly, this revelation didn’t show on Rebekah’s face as she shrugged disinterestedly, stepping off the bar stool. “Well, boys. You’ve managed to make my already subpar night worse. We’ll be going now.”

Another man who appeared to be more bulk than brain, grabbed an already aggravated Rebekah’s arm to stop her leaving.

“Well, let me make your night better, doll.”

Oh _no._

There was a series of loud squelches – the man’s face was contorted into a frozen scream as Rebekah tore off his arm, then tore out his heart in quick succession. “Don’t you dare _touch_ me.” He fell to the ground with grey, veiny skin - dead.

Silence filled the bar. The men stood still for a moment, taking in the sight of their fallen friend, before all at once, rushing at Rebekah – and for the first time, Annalise saw how _ruthless_ the Original was. One vampire went down with a billiard stick through his heart; she decked another, kneed him in the balls, then shoved him backwards with enough force to hit the wall hard while pulling his heart out in the same motion. Heavy arms wrapped around Rebekah’s midsection before she managed to turn, but not missing a beat, she grunted as she levered her legs up the wall and pushed against it hard - throwing them both backwards and somehow managing to skewer the man behind her through the chest with the same billiard cue still sticking out of the first man.

Only two men remained now – one that still held Annalise in what had turned into a threatening headlock, and the other posed to attack the blonde. Rebekah just smirked, delicately brushing her hair out of her face with a bloody hand. “Who’s next?”

As the second last vampire jumped at Rebekah in fury, Annalise felt the grip around her throat tighten, which spurred her into motion from the shell-shocked stupor that she had fallen into. She gripped on to the arm around her, flinging her head back _hard_ enough to feel the man’s nose crunch under the force of her headbutt. He let her go as he stumbled back in agony.

His hand held his bleeding nose, before cracking it back into place with a scowl. “ _Bitch.”_

Annalise raised a shaky hand to break his neck, but before she could, a piece of wood flew past her, embedding itself deep into the man’s torso. He fell to his knees with an audible groan, clutching at the broken half of another cue jutting out of his chest weakly, before falling to his side, eyes dead as his skin turned to stone.

“Well. That was interesting.” Annalise turned to her friend rigidly, swallowing heavily as she took in Rebekah’s blood splattered clothes and the bodies littered around her, with their missing hearts lying in a pool of their own blood where they’d been dropped carelessly. Rebekah took in Annalise’s ashen complexion, her eyes still glued to the other half of the cue Rebekah still clutched in a bloody grip.

She dropped the cue. “Lissie?”

Annalise startled, eyes raising slow to meet Bekah’s. “Uh…turns out I’m not used to seeing people uh...I- I mean-”

Rebekah looked worried, approaching Lis as if she was a cornered animal ready to flee. “Lissie they were gonna kill us, they might’ve hurt Hayley-”

“No, uh…no. You don’t need to.” Annalise climbed down from her stool, walking to her friend, carefully stepping around the splatters of blood. “You don’t need to justify it – I’ve no right to- look, I’ve heard stories, I’ve just never _seen, I-”_ She took a deep breath trying to find her words. “I’ve known about you Bekah, about your family. I-I’m not saying this is okay, or _normal,_ or _good_ but uh…” She stumbled over her words, stuttering. “I guess I met you guys during a good spell, huh?” Rebekah smirked ruefully, shrugging. Annalise took another deep breath. “They were dicks, and you did what you you had to do. Just, uh…give me a while to wrap my head around it?”

Her friend nodded with a small smile, then looked down at her ruined clothes. “Yeah, I need a minute to go change.”

Annalise took in the carnage around her with a small gulp, eyes flicking from one body to another. The metallic tang of blood filled the air – something she just came to realise – so shaking her head, Annalise flicked her wrist, cleaning the entire bar of blood.

Next, she burned the separated hearts in the floor, before managing to teleport the rest of the bodies into a corner of the room hidden behind the bar and proceeding to burning them too.

A quick peek in the direction that the vampires had come from revealed another man - a familiar one – it was the bartender, the same one that had served her chips with a wide smile. Just by looking at him; his pale skin and several bites on his exposed arms, it was evident that he’d been drained probably moments before the vampires had approached them.

This was just a cruel joke, wasn’t it? Why was it that no matter where she went, she couldn’t help people when they needed her the most?

Sighing in grief, she crouched to gently shut his eyes, still wide open with fear even in death, then stood as Rebekah joined her dressed in a new outfit. She looked down at the dry corpse in detached pity.

“I hope this makes you feel better about what just happened.”

“It helps.” Annalise sighed again, looking back towards where the pile of dead vampires had been disintegrated, feeling her general distaste towards them grow. Burning the human’s body in the same manner – in a magic fire - would leave his family and friends with no closure, so she opted to leave the body undisturbed. For the most part. She did heal the bitemarks peppering his skin detachedly at Rebekah’s insistence.

There was no point in leaving a trail.

“Come on. We should get going.” Rebekah pulled her in the direction of the car, and Annalise followed silently behind her, sending one last glance at the poor man before flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED on the door before letting it shut loudly behind her, bell tinkling merrily.

-

It was late evening when they finally drove into another large circular driveway, in front of another large two storey white house with tall pillars lining the front.

Annalise’s lips thinned, remembering the awe she felt as she’d first laid eyes on the Mikaelson Mansion in Mystic Falls. Now all these similarities brought her were bitter reminders of how she’d gradually lost her love for the place she’d once called home. She _hated_ it.

Rebekah shot her a look as she climbed out of the convertible. Annalise nodded at her unasked question. “Yeah, he’s in there, along with who I presume is Hayley. The baby – it feels…different. Something I’ve never felt before.”

Her friend nodded slightly, tilting her head. Annalise sighed, shaking her own head slightly. “I can’t tell if Elijah’s in there Beks. Sorry.”

A stern expression took over Rebekah’s face as she stalked up and into the house with a heavy scowl – Annalise followed behind her more hesitantly. She…didn’t want to see him. But, she did promise Rebekah she’d help. And after all, Elijah hadn’t abandoned her as she’d thought he had – he’d been otherwise…engaged to say the least. She owed him.

Hearing voices, Lis walked into find Rebekah looking at Hayley expressionlessly.

“You’re that werewolf girl my brother knocked up.” Rebekah seemed unapologetic about the judgement in her voice. “I was expecting to see some kind of supernatural, miracle baby bump. Guess you’re not showing yet. It’s Hayley, isn’t it?”

“Rebekah, then. You have your brother’s manners.” Hayley fired back.

“Sometimes.” Annalise stepped in further, choosing to deescalate the situation by walking closer to Hayley with a small smile. “Hey, how you been?”

“Peachy.” Hayley’s eyes lit up with a small smile as she regarded Annalise familiarly. “Sorry, I haven’t got any chocolate milk to offer you.”

Lis rolled her eyes, moving to hug the girl – Hayley hugged back with vigour, almost clutching her close enough to stop her breathing. After a moment, Annalise tapped her arm, making Hayley release her death grip sheepishly. “Sorry, it-it’s been a tough couple of months, I haven’t gotten many hugs.”

Annalise smiled sadly, nodding in understanding. Rebekah moved next to the two girls. “Right, greetings out of the way – Hayley, seen Elijah around recently?”

Hayley shrugged, looking disappointed. “He’s long gone. One minute he was here making epic promises about protecting me in this predicament that a bottle of scotch and some bad decisions got me into – he was all poetic about how we’re family – and then Klaus told me he bailed. Guess that’s what I get for trusting a vampire.”

Annalise chewed her lip looking awkwardly away as Rebekah scowled harder. “It seems you were misinformed, darling. Elijah doesn’t break promises.” Rebekah turned to her, fire apparent in her gaze. “Seems like you were right, Lissie, Niklaus has done something dastardly and Klaus-like.” She turned, stalking around the corner into the living room, yelling at a pair of closed double doors. “Klaus! Get out here and tell me why you’ve daggered our brother, you narcissistic, back-stabbing _wanker!”_

Annalise couldn’t hold back her amused smile as Nik opened the double doors with an annoyed flourish, even if she distinctly noticed how much more stressed he looked. “Enough with all the shouting. Little sister, Annalise, I should’ve known. I assume the six dead vampires were your doing?” He had flecks of paint on his clothing…he was plotting something. 

Lis filed that thought away for later, choosing to address her most recent concern as she raised her brows. “Wait, you already know about that? It happened like, a couple hours ago.”

Rebekah shrugged, choosing to explain. “They were rude, trying to victimise a pair of innocent girls on their way to the Quarter.” She grinned sharply at Klaus. “Sorry, were they friends of yours? Oh right, that’s it,” Rebekah looked at Lis significantly before looking back. “You don’t have any friends.”

Annalise rolled her eyes. “Jeez. Mature, Bekah.” When she looked back towards Nik, his eyes were already trained on her. She chose to delicately remain polite for the time being – “They overheard us; found out she was your sister, figured I was a witch ‘cos I might’ve done some irresponsible magic, and that we were headed to New Orleans. They were going to kill me and hurt Bekah. We had no choice.”

Her eyes flicked to the floor uncomfortably in remembrance as Rebekah shifted. “Well, _I_ had no choice. Lissie stood to the side completely frozen.”

“I broke one’s nose though.” Annalise spoke up feeling strangely defensive, making Hayley snort in laughter behind her. Lis crossed her arms, acting faux insulted as she shot a smile at Hayley. “Okay, what the hell. I’m not gonna defend myself for not hurting enough people.”

Nik stepped towards Rebekah, moving the attention off Annalise. “Well, I do have a friend, surprisingly enough. Marcel, do you remember him?” He tilted his head as Rebekah’s expression fell in shock. “Of course you do. He fancies himself the ‘King of the Quarter’ now, and he has rules about killing vampires. It’ll be fun to see what sort of punishment he comes up with for you.”

Rebekah’s expression had twisted into anger once more as tried to gather herself. “I don’t care about Marcel or his rules. You’ve daggered Elijah. Where is he?”

Nik shrugged, walking casually past Bekah as if he hadn’t just dropped new information on Rebekah that she still hadn’t managed to fully recover from. “I can’t really seem to remember, sister, but feel free to look around. You remember this house as well as I.”

Annalise and Hayley exchanged an awkward look as Rebekah looked to him in quiet fury. “I remember _everything,_ Nik. I remember how the drunken fool of a governor hid away all of our vampire sins in exchange for gold. I remember the lavish parties the governor threw, as if to impress you.”

Nik smiled in a smug manner, shrugging one shoulder in a ‘ _I’m just that great, I understand’_ gesture.

Rebekah moved closer to him; anger and frustration clouded by grief. “I remember finding a moment’s affection with the governor’s son, Emil. And I remember that even Elijah was happy.”

Annalise curled in on herself when both Nik and Rebekah’s eyes were drawn to an empty space below the middle of the grand circling staircase high above…she had a distinct feeling that this Emil met a pretty grim end as Nik spoke glibly. “Well, he wasn’t good enough for you.”

Rebekah sounded angry and _done._ “No one was _ever_ good enough for me, Nik, you made sure of that. Now where’s Elijah?”

Nik’s reply was cut short as his phone started buzzing; he checked it, then moved to leave. Rebekah’s frustration and anger grew. “Where are you going?”

He lifted his phone in answer. “It appears the night is not quite over yet. I’m off for another drink with Marcel.”

Rebekah’s glare worsened. “Elijah told me about your plan to take apart Marcel’s empire piece by piece. I don’t remember it involving you two drinking New Orleans dry together.”

Annalise’s brows lifted. Taking some self-proclaimed _King’s_ empire was just _asking_ for trouble; literally inviting trouble out for a drink. She went to speak up, but Nik fired back, incensed, giving up his uncaring façade. “I know you don’t have many friends, Rebekah,” his eyes flicked to hers again for a second, “but what friends do when they get together, is they _drink._ And when they drink, they tell _secrets_. Marcel somehow found a way to control the entirety of witches in the Quarter, and I aim to uncover the ‘how’ so I might take it for myself. Finding Elijah didn’t make my to-do list today.”

He turned to leave, but Annalise spoke up, trying to work her way through Nik’s comment. “Wait, you said this _Marcel’s_ been controlling the French Quarter witches because of some…advantage? A _weapon?”_

Klaus nodded slightly. “As far as my understanding goes, he knows when magic is practiced, and _who_ practices it. The public executions deter the witches rebelling.”

“Public executions?” Annalise echoed weakly. “I- wait, you said the weapon knows when people do magic? I-Could it be someone like me? Should, ah…should I come along?”

Nik narrowed his gaze, thinking, before shaking his head. “No. You shouldn’t be here in the first place. Stay here, and _don’t_ do magic. Clear?”

“Crystal.” Annalise bit back, annoyed at the sudden anger he directed at her. _Fuck_ him.

Klaus turned once more, walking to the door, then paused for a moment, turning back.

“Oh, and welcome home, little sister.”

-

Annalise had waited in the living room while Hayley and Rebekah went to explore the house looking for secret rooms and the like – any place that Nik could’ve hidden Elijah. She was too tired to go with them, she was sure that Elijah wasn’t anywhere on the premises of this house anyway, but Rebekah had wanted to make sure.

Annalise was thinking back to two months ago when Nik had admitted to daggering Elijah. Initially she had figured that he’d told her that to make her feel better in that twisted way of his; like it might’ve been his way of saying ‘ _I didn’t hurt you nearly as much as I hurt him.’_

But no, now she had a feeling that his reasons ran deeper than that. Lis had always known that Nik was a genius strategist; but she hadn’t known that he had been in the midst of starting a war.

Sure, it makes sense superficially to get rid of his brother. Less weaknesses and all that. His normal logic. But no, this was _war,_ and in war he would need to play each of his moves tactically, not impulsively. So that meant that Elijah being daggered would be beneficial to him - moreso than his un-daggered presence at least.

She just wasn’t sure how.

The girls joined her soon after; Hayley had seemed disturbed by how casually Rebekah had explained daggering to her…and Annalise understood. She still couldn’t get over how violent it was. Rebekah then explained to Annalise that Hayley currently had a hex placed on her by a French Quarter witch – as long as she was carrying the baby, leaving New Orleans would be a death sentence.

Lis shook her head grimly. “I felt something sticking to you, something dark. But there’s another spell on you, isn’t there? You’re linked.”

Hayley nodded. “Yeah, the same witch, Sophie Deveraux; she linked me to her for insurance, to make sure Klaus listens to her demands.”

Annalise placed a gentle hand on Hayley’s arm, shutting her eyes to feel out the two spells. “Well, the good news is both the hex and the linking spells are standard ones, I think I saw this de-linking spell in Esther’s grimoire that should do the trick.”

“You can’t Lissie.” Rebekah shook her head lightly. “Remember? No magic. The second you do magic, Marcel finds out we’re here – he kills you, then us.”

“I’m not letting a freaking hex stay on a pregnant woman, Bekah! Sophie could hurt her, the _baby;_ any second.”

Rebekah stood too, stepping in front of an angrily pacing Annalise. “Lissie you can’t Marcel will-”

“I don’t give a _fuck_ about that dipshit who thinks that medieval _execution_ is the answer to getting people to _like_ you, Beks. I can take him.”

“You can’t. Because you’ll hurt Nik.” 

Annalise paused, looking quizzically at her friend, waiting for her to elaborate. “I was there the day they met. We were burying Emil…the governor’s only son…or so we thought. Turns out the governor had another son, from a mother that he _owned.”_

A chill went down Annalise’s spine, she felt her anger lose its steam as Rebekah continued sombrely. “He saved the young boy from being whipped, gave him the name Marcellus, and raised him as if he was his own blood.” Rebekah sighed, sitting down. “Nik saw himself in the boy. He remembered how our father used to-” Lis felt her stomach turn as she saw Rebekah stop herself from saying the words, choosing to say her thoughts in another way. “He too, was the bastard child of a man who saw him as nothing but a beast. And that’s why you’ll hurt him, Lissie. They’re long-lost souls brought back together. Without Elijah between them, who knows what they’ll do.”

Hayley looked away, deep in thought as if she was re-evaluating everything she knew about Nik – and Annalise remembered the night that Mikael had died. Nik had looked conflicted by his father’s death, but his shoulders no longer hunched when he thought she wasn’t looking – it was as if he had been released from a burden he’d shouldered his entire life.

Dropping her head into her hands, Annalise broke the solemn silence. “Okay, so no to de-spelling Hayley, or hurting Marcel. Who wants to come with me and scope out the town to see if I can track Elijah’s signature down?”

Rebekah stood with a small smile, but Hayley remained deep in thought. “Hayley? You good?” Annalise squeezed her shoulder. Hayley wore a troubled look.

“I'm in trouble, aren’t I?”

Rebekah sighed, nodding reluctantly. “If I know Nik, he’s planning a casket for you the second you give birth to whatever’s cooking in your tum.”

Annalise frowned. “Surely he wouldn’t-”

“He would.” Rebekah’s lips had pressed into a thin line. “He found a way to take care of you after all, remember?” She turned back to a worried-looking Hayley. “I’m leaving as soon as I find Elijah. Being daggered in a box for decades sucks, trust me. You’d best find a magic-free solution to break that hex and run.”

With that, the blonde turned on her heel, walking straight out the front door. Annalise passed Hayley an unsure smile, squeezing her hand. “I’ll do what I can to help.”

Hayley gave her a small distracted nod, so Annalise walked out to join Rebekah in her convertible silently. Hayley was strong; Annalise had faith in her.

-

They’d been wandering around the French Quarter of New Orleans for the better half of an hour – Annalise had been concentrating on finding Elijah’s signature as they walked the old cobblestone paths of the French Quarter, but the sheer amount of vampires around them, in bars and on rooftops, distracted her.

The witches of the French Quarter would’ve never allowed this to happen…now, that wasn’t admiration in Annalise’s thoughts – that was fear.

The witches of the New Orleans French Quarter were some truly twisted folk.

She walked through the bustling crowds with lively jazz music echoing through the streets - in any other situation, Annalise would have loved to bask in the positive energy the Quarter released – especially at night. It had once been on her bucket list to visit, just for their lively parties and cheap alcohol; but that had been _before_ she had read up on the magic in the city.

Now, New Orleans was home to many covens, some of them more modern than others – but the oldest among them, and undeniably the most traditional, was the French Quarter Coven. The coven reminded Annalise briefly of her own back in the day, albeit with quite a few differences. The most obvious one being that her parent’s coven had a shared pool of magic created by the entire coven pooling their magic together. The French Quarter coven on the other hand, used heavily Ancestral magics, drawing on the collective powers of their consecrated dead from a singular Ancestral Well. If any other witch’s ashes were consecrated on these grounds, their magic would also be added to the pool, and their spirit would wander in the Ancestral Plane without rest.

_Barbaric._

It was then she had decided that maybe it would be best to steer clear of covens that drew on the power of the dead witches – she wasn’t technically a witch, sure, but the second they got an inkling of how much power she held, it would’ve been Goodnight Vienna; a quick consecration, then an eternity on a trans-dimensional plane filled with judgemental old _hags._

The authentic buildings with high arches and balconies lined the streets she walked, half concentrated on making sure she didn’t bump into people while appreciating the beautiful city around her, and the other half focused on finding Elijah’s familiar signature. As she spread out her sense again, further, she felt the slow, languid old magic of the Quarter pass by her and Lis felt strangely comfortable…relaxed. Removed from her stress.

Wait…no. Hold that thought.

She _was_ stressed.

Rebekah had disappeared. _Ugh._

Grabbing out her phone, she looked around for a landmark. Her eye caught a blue sign hanging from the doorway, ‘Rousseau’s’ written in an old-fashioned font - tying in charmingly with the rest of the French Quarter.

Perfect.

Sending a quick message to Rebekah telling her to meet at the restaurant in five, Annalise ducked into the small but crowded bar – she was pleased to find that though the entrance was a little cramped, it opened out into a large room filled with tables and chairs opposite a large, well-stocked bar. Now _that,_ Annalise could appreciate.

Another room past the tables revealed an open kitchen of some sort…tied bundles of sage, rosemary and thyme hung in the kitchen, and in its centre sat a large wooden table filled with food preparations.

Her stomach growled. 

Making a beeline straight for the bar, she reflected the smile the pretty blonde bartender brightly shot her. “What can I get for you, hon?”

Annalise grinned, eyes lingering on the vodka behind the bar as she leaned her chin tiredly on her palm. “Do you guys do food?”

“Sure.” The bartender just laughed as she cleaned a glass with a washcloth. “I’m gonna need some ID.”

“For the house special?”

“No, for the way you looked at my vodka.” The bartender raised an eyebrow at her. “You sure a bar’s the right place for you?”

“I’m not gonna be here long.” Annalise smiled half-heartedly, reaching for her wallet while flashing the bartender an uncomfortable grin. “Here you go.”

“Huh. You look young.”

“It’s the height, isn’t it?” The bartender chuckled, shaking her head at Annalise’s displeased expression.

“So, what’s got you debating whether or not you want vodka?” The bartender handed back her ID. “…Annalise?”

“Oh…call me Lis, or Lissie or anything really. I don’t like the full thing.” She shrugged as she smiled. “It’s just been that kinda day.” Her mind returned to the other bartender, now lying dead on the floor off in a bar on a remote highway. She quickly schooled her falling expression into a false smile – one that the bartender apparently noticed was fake, judging by the sympathetic grin she shot Lis.

“I’m Camille. Call me Cami.” Annalise extended her hand for a shake as Cami continued. “I’ll get that special for you.”

-

Camille handed her a plate, nodding at the thanks she received from Lis. Annalise faltered on digging into the small Mediterranean dish that smelt absolutely wonderful as Cami lingered. Looking around, Lis realised she might be the only coherent person to talk to, considering the man further to her left was slumped, sipping at a tumbler of whiskey, and surrounded by many more empty glasses.

“So, what brings you down to the Big Easy?”

Cami seemed nice, but Annalise was just in an impatient and anxious mood, having not heard from Rebekah yet. “Uh…I’m looking for a good friend of mine.”

Camille raised a brow before shrugging. “I wish I could help you, but I really just got here myself.” Annalise nodded politely – after all, making conversation might help pass the time. She couldn’t help but let her eyes flick to the entrance periodically though.

“Something else is bothering you.” Annalise shot Camille a startled glance suspiciously, but the bartender shrugged sheepishly. “Just putting my psych degree to good use. I’m sorry if I overstepped-”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault.” Annalise flashed her a tired grin. “You’re lovely, but the last bartender I spilled all my secrets to…well. Safe to say I regretted it. A lot.”

Camille clearly had more questions but gave her a slow nod and left Annalise tapping on her phone anxiously. Where the hell was Rebekah?

Oh thank gosh.

Rebekah’s signature flared on her senses; she was further down the street, but…rushing in her direction. Something was wrong.

Hurriedly taking out whatever cash she had and sticking it under her plate, Annalise ran out to meet her.

The blonde almost ran her over in her hurry. “Rebekah, where the hell were you?”

“It doesn’t matter I-”

Annalise squinted at her friend. “You’ve been acting shifty ever since you mentioned this…Marcel, I-”

“This _isn’t_ about him.” Rebekah cut in, eyes flaring. “Lissie, I just heard vampires talk about a werewolf in the quarter.”

“Oh _shit.”_ Hayley.

Annalise slammed her eyes shut and spread her senses as far as she could, but thankfully, Hayley’s signature, along with the anomaly she carried within her shone bright, even with the signatures of vampires nearing her.

“Rebekah, they’re close. Up ahead, to your left.” Annalise realised there was no way she could make it to Hayley in time without teleporting and alerting whatever weapon Marcel had. She turned to Rebekah urgently. “ _Run.”_

Rebekah disappeared in a blur of motion. Looking around discreetly to ensure none of the drunk people littering the streets saw what happened, Annalise sprinted after Rebekah.

Skidding to a halt on the large deserted street, lit only by a few scarce lamps, Lis found two vampires at Rebekah’s feet - one with a neck broken unnaturally, and the other with a conspicuous hole in their chest. Rebekah sigh in what seemed like disappointment. “Now, that’s no way to treat a pregnant lady. I do hate bad manners.”

Annalise and Hayley exchanged a glance as Rebekah casually dropped the heart, then used her clean hand to dial a number on her phone.

“Nik? We might have a problem.”

-

Nik threw the last body on to the pile at the centre of the circular driveway in front of the plantation house, still angrily berating the girls for leaving.

“ _This_ is why I told you not to leave the house. Werewolves are banned in the Quarter. I had a plan, and your little night-time stroll put it all in peril!”

A man groaned, twitching at the top of the pile – Annalise detachedly noticed this was the vampire who’s neck Bekah had snapped, which meant he wasn’t dead yet - Rebekah started towards him, halting in her tracks at Nik’s angry roar. “Leave him! You’ve done enough, don’t you think? Leaving a trail of bodies like a roadmap to my door?”

Rebekah festered at being yelled at. “If I hadn’t overheard this lot bragging about werewolf heads, you and Hayley would’ve been _screwed._ And don’t give me that crap about having a plan. You’ve had all the time in the world to execute it, and no one’s seen you do a _damn thing!_ Elijah made a deal to protect _your_ child, so that it could save you from your selfish _rotten_ self. But you obviously don’t give a damn about your child _or_ Elijah, because what have you done to honour it?”

Annalise saw Nik’s face falter in indignation, before his fury came back full force. “I have done _everything._ Let me spell it out for you, shall I? From the day I arrived, Marcel hasn’t trusted me. From day one, he’s had his vampires ingest toxic vervain which, as you know, little sister, protects them from my mind control.”

He took a deep breath, pacing. “I needed a spy, someone on the inside with me who Marcel would never suspect. So, I created a Day Zero and got there first. Marcel had just lost six vampires, thanks to your little murder spree, and he needed new recruits. I made the new one mine before he’d even had a drop of vervain. But we all know the real way to a man is through his heart, so I compelled a bartender he’s infatuated with to keep him distracted.” Nik turned around to the pile of dead bodies, pulling out the vampire that had lived, then dragging him back into the house while speaking.

“And this one – I’m gonna drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so that he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight.”

He flung the unconscious body into the front foyer, stepping over the vampire casually, as the girls followed him quietly inside. “Does anyone have any more questions? No? Good, because I have a question. I expected this from Annalise and Rebekah, but Hayley, what were you doing in the _bloody_ French Quarter in the first place?” As Hayley looked away in shame, Nik yelled once more. “Answer me!”

“Leave her be.” Rebekah stood straighter as Annalise shifted closer to Hayley in silent support. Hayley had found her courage though – after all, she did have the temper of a wolf. “You wanna know what I was doing?” She stepped forwards, glaring hatefully at Nik. “I was buying poison so I could put _your_ little baby out of _its misery.”_

_Oh._

Everything paused as the weight of Hayley’s words sunk in, Lis vaguely registered the beginnings of tears in Nik’s eyes before he roared, overcome by anger and lunging forwards to attack Hayley.

In a heartbeat, Annalise was in front of the wolf, staring him down furiously – Nik halted in his tracks lividly as she hissed. “Don’t try to hurt her _,_ you _dick._ ”

Rebekah stepped beside her, shielding Hayley more properly behind the pair of girls. “For God’s sake! All this bluster about not wanting the child, and then the second she tells you she’s ready to get rid of it?” Her tone softened as Nik backed away. “It’s _okay_ to care. It’s okay to _want_ something. That’s all Elijah was trying to do, all he’s ever wanted for you. All _we’ve_ ever wanted.”

As Rebekah spoke, he sagged against the wall tiredly, and Lis saw his shoulders drop. Rebekah approached him quietly as he spoke.

“I gave Elijah to Marcel.”

“What?”

As Rebekah looked at Nik insulted, but Annalise sighed in comprehension, rubbing at her eyes. “You thought he’d be too antsy having _two_ of you around. The power dynamic would be screwed. This was a way to get his trust.”

Nik’s lips quirked familiarly as he nodded in approval. “Exactly. He wanted Elijah gone, so this was a peace offering.”

Hayley approached Lis’ side slowly as Rebekah sounded perplexed. “You _bartered our brother?”_

Nik shook his head in disappointment, straightening up once more. “I have a plan. Gain Marcel’s trust, dismantle his empire, honour Elijah’s wish that that baby be born. I am executing that plan in the only way I know how. If you don’t like it, there’s the door. See if I care.”

He rose to his feet, leaving back to his drawing room in a huff as Rebekah leaned back, clearly annoyed, but unsure on what to do. Annalise exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Hayley as Rebekah also stood, leaving in the opposite direction outside to sit by the pool.

Hayley gestured to the outside to where Rebekah had ventured. “I-uh…I just have to give her a few things I picked up. Are you staying the night?”

Annalise smiled slightly, shrugging. “Depends on Bekah, but I feel bad leaving you to deal with all this.”

“Good.” Hayley passed her a relieved, dimpled smile. “This family’s driving me insane, I need friends outside it.”

Annalise huffed lightly. “You and me both.” Hayley nodded, still smiling before going to a nearby cupboard and digging out something metal wrapped in cloth from its depths. Annalise raised an eyebrow at catching a glimpse of two familiar silver daggers. “I’m gonna go make sure she gets Elijah back.” Hayley winked at her, then left.

Smart, now there was nothing stopping Bekah from going against Nik’s orders.

Only…she wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Tyrannical or not, there was a certain method to his madness even she couldn’t deny.

Something hit the door and clattered to the ground in the drawing room.

Annalise almost ignored it but found herself walking over and knocking on the closed doors lightly anyway.

When no reply came, she gently pushed one door open, slid in, and closed it shut behind her. Nik didn’t look up from his canvas – this one depicted a stormy night sky above a picturesque city. She went to step forwards, but a stray brush nudged at her feet, making her pause and narrow her eyes at it.

In the year she’d known Nik, she’d never known him to misuse his art supplies, let alone throw a brush at the door.

Picking it up, she walked over to place it on the table where he kept his paints, raising a brow at the way his brush pressed a bit too hard against the canvas to capture the ferocity of the dark clouds. “You’re really worried, aren’t you? About Marcel, Elijah, and the baby?”

“Don’t pretend you know me.”

Annalise crossed her arms with a light glare. “I don’t have to.”

Her retort made Nik look over at her for the first time since entering the room; his eyes studied hers carefully, but they softened before he turned back to his painting. “The first drawer on the right, open it.”

Annalise frowned, but walked over to the cabinet at the far wall anyway, following his instructions. There was a small brown paper package nestled on top of some paints, tied with string. She picked it up hesitantly, turning back to him for an explanation.

Nik didn’t look away from his painting. “I was under the impression it was your birthday.”

An incredulous laugh escaped her lips. “Yeah, uh…three months ago.”

Nik shot her a flat look that made her realise that he would’ve planned to give it to her then. She frowned. “You left me, okay? A birthday present wouldn’t have made me forget that you left me high and dry for an entire month because you have this _pathological_ fear of being betrayed.”

He sighed, gesturing to it. “Open it.”

She pulled at the string, loosening it, then gently tore through the thin brown paper, revealing a small cardboard box. She raised a brow at him before opening it up.

Her breath caught at the beautiful small bracelet; the gold chain was delicately thin with small blue flower charms hanging off it. Annalise picked it up, then looked to Nik with shock. “So uh…bracelets are your thing, huh? I’m sorry, I don’t feel the same way-”

“Shut up.” Nik smirked at her for the first time since her arrival, shrugging. “Say what you want. Bracelets haven’t failed me yet.”

Annalise huffed, lightly feeling the small flower charms. “I wouldn’t exactly consider your attempt at dating Caroline a success.”

“You have a point there.” Nik turned to see her thumbing the charms with a smug smile playing at his lips. “The blue flowers are geranium rozannes. You seemed to like them back at the Mansion. Your window overlooks them from what I remember. They mean patience, and strength in the face of adversity. Fitting, I thought.”

Annalise smiled gently. “Thanks. Help me put it on?” He nodded putting his brush down before walking over to help her click the bracelet on the small wrist she revealed by pushing up her soft cardigan. He avoided her studying gaze as he stepped back to his painting casually once more. “Leaving me was the second time you’ve done something to hurt me, Nik. This doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.”

He nodded at her, picking up his brush once more as she made herself comfortable in the armchair in the corner of the room. “The first night I was here, I witnessed Marcel execute a witch in the middle of the street for practicing magic – and for the last 3 months I’ve been working my way into his inner circle, gaining his trust. If he were to know that I had someone as powerful as you on my side, he would’ve never even started to trust me. He would’ve targeted me, come after you, and you would’ve been in da-”

“In the way.” Annalise interjected softly. “If you’d reached out, I would’ve come helped. Even if you told me not to, I would’ve thought of a million different ways to interfere.”

“Sure.” Nik frowned, as if she’d reached the wrong conclusion, then shrugged to dismiss it, turning back to his painting. “It was never my intention to leave you alone. I thought Rebekah and the people of Mystic Falls you had grown attached to would sufficiently keep you company.”

“But they weren’t my best friend.” Annalise offered quietly. Nik shot her a small apologetic nod, before grabbing a smaller brush to add detail to his painting.

It was quiet then, only filled with the sounds of the brush softly scratching at the canvas. Annalise realised that the city Nik had been painting looked remarkably like the French quarter, with the stunning modern New Orleans’ skyline in the background. “Beautiful here, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Nik nodded, smiling slightly. “It was, and always will be the place I felt most at home in my travels. The art, the culture here; it feels different. We were once truly happy here.”

His wistful look had Annalise tilting her head. “What happened?”

“Mikael.”

“What an asshole _.”_

Nik chuckled suddenly, harshly, before inhaling deeply. “How would you feel about everyone moving back here, Lissie?”

She tilted her head at Nik. “You mean after you take the city back from Marcel?” She shrugged. “I’m not opposed to it, but uh…the witches here are questionable. They can’t be trusted. And Marcel, from what I’ve heard, he won’t go down without a fight. It’s gonna be a challenge. It’s gonna end up bloody, I feel it.” Nik’s hard gaze remained unchanged and serious as Annalise felt dread settle in her stomach as she continued. “But it looks like you’re about to make a bad decision anyway.”

Nik shrugged carelessly before he looked entirely too pensive. “You think _this_ is a bad decision?”

“Why do I get the feeling you mean Hayley, and the kid and _not_ the war you’re planning to wage?” Nik didn’t answer Annalise, looking away instead. She smirked lightly, shaking her head. “No, I don’t think so. I think you’ll be a great father.”

His eyes flashed to hers. “How do you know?”

“Because you cared enough to ask me. Because you have a great example of what a father _shouldn’t_ be. Because it’s your kid, and they’re a Mikaelson; their family is made up with literally the strongest people I know. Because come hell or high water, you protect your own. Always and forever, am I getting that right?” Nik rolled his eyes fondly at Annalise’s small smirk. “You aren’t fooling anyone, Nik. Family means the world to you. Just, please, refrain from treating Hayley like she’s against you. She isn’t. She’s stronger than you give her credit for, and you’re going to need her by your side.”

Nik looked at her solemnly before nodding. “I might have let my frustrations get the better of me earlier. You have my word I won’t hurt the mother of my child.” 

Annalise grinned brightly at him before it dimmed. She exhaled shakily. “I wanted to let you know that I need to be in Mystic Falls soon to take care of Silas once and for all. I need to tie up those loose ends before moving here. I hope you understand.”

“Good.” Nik frowned for a long moment before nodding. “I can’t have you parading your magic around Marcel anyway, Lissie. He might already know you’re here with that weapon of his. Let me know when you leave.”

Annalise nodded, rising to leave only to vaguely realise that they’d been talking for a while, that Bekah was no longer on the house’s premises, and Hayley was already fast asleep upstairs. She remembered that Hayley had handed the daggers to Rebekah, so Lis worried what her friend would get up to with no fear of retribution from Nik.

As Lis shut the doors of the drawing room tightly behind her, she hoped Rebekah was safe. 

**-**

Annalise was jarred from her sleep viciously when the front door opened so forcefully that it smacked the wall beside it. Lis could almost swear she felt the house shake.

Scrambling from the sofa and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she faced Rebekah, discarding the blanket that had appeared around her in the night. Grimacing at the French Quarter heat and humidity making her clothes stick to her, she faced an annoyed Rebekah as she yelled. “Where the _hell is he_?”

Nik appeared on the stairs straight away, followed closely by Hayley who looked as if she had just woken up herself. Annalise pointed at him wordlessly, directing Rebekah’s ire.

Nik rolled his eyes. “We really don’t need to see your theatrics first thing in the morning, dear sister.”

Annalise frowned. “Wait, have you been out all night? Are you okay?”

Rebekah nodded, turning to Nik. “You were right. The girl, Cami – she’s the key. Marcel likes her, and because of that, I got to see the secret weapon you’ve been going on about.”

Nik spread his arms, ignoring Annalise faintly whisper “Cami?” to herself.

“Well don’t stand on ceremony Rebekah. What is it?”

Rebekah shook her head with a steady voice. “It’s not a ‘what’, it’s a ‘who’. A girl, Davina. She can’t be more than sixteen, and she threw me around like a rag doll. She’s like Lissie.”

“You mean like a witch?” He descended the stairs worriedly as Annalise also moved closer.

“No, I mean _like Lissie._ She’s something beyond powerful, and now, because of you, she has Elijah. Who knows what she could do to him.”

Annalise was blanched, shaking her head. “No, no way – I-I need to meet her. Is she a prisoner? Is Marcel doing to her what Gloria did to me? Oh god she’s a _child_ , I need to go.”

“No, _you_ aren’t going anywhere.” Nik put a heavy hand on her shoulder, turning to Rebekah. “Where is she?”

Everyone paused, waiting for Rebekah to answer them, but all she offered them was a bewildered look before it turned into anger. “That clever _bitch_. I don’t know.”

Nik frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“She wiped my memory of the location.” Rebekah’s anger had returned, and she sounded breathless. “Marcel possesses a weapon that’s as possibly as powerful as Lissie and _willing_ to hurt us, and you handed our brother to him! How many times will Elijah forgive you? How long until his hope of _your_ redemption _finally dies?!”_ She started storming back towards the door, as if meaning to go rescue Elijah straight away, Nik followed behind her, clearly at the end of his rope.

“I did what I had to do! _Marcel took our home!”_

Rebekah turned on her heel and glared. “And our home is _worthless_ without family. I’m finding Elijah – whatever it takes. Are you going to help me?”

Annalise watched Nik’s face settle into an equally determined expression.

“ _Whatever it takes_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sprinkled a little Sherlock reference in there 'cos why not :)  
> As this story moves on, I do hope to incorporate and mix both TO and TVD into the plot, as well as a few of my own subplots to make it spicy (hehe), I just wanted to let you know. And omg I've outlined most of the upcoming sequel to this book and I honestly can't wait to share it with y'all.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!!


	38. Tangled Up In Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,  
> I have a reason for the delay I swear, I moved houses and then used up all my data on watching Bridgerton while I didn't have wifi oops.  
> To make it up to you wonderful people I will also be uploading the next chapter tomorrow!  
> Usual Warnings Apply, mostly an informative chapter so bear with me guys!!  
> Enjoy!

Annalise was currently sitting cross-legged on top of the small dining table on the second floor of the Plantation House with her eyes shut determinately, doing her level best to focus on the smell of her coffee in front of her and scanning the magic signatures flaring in the French Quarter, instead of the smell of burning bodies drifting in through the open window, accompanied by the sounds of the two Original siblings bickering distractingly in front of her.

“I cannot believe you disposed of those vampires without me.” Annalise sighed, giving up her fruitless search and opening her eyes in time to see Rebekah pouting from her position at the window overlooking the _lovely_ bonfire in their front yard. “You know how much I love to set things on fire.”

Nik smirked, leaning relaxed against the doorway. “Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard to rot? Lissie was just about ready to throw up. Besides, they were my responsibility. They attacked the helpless pregnant girl who’s carrying my child!”

“Aw. I’m so moved by your new-found sense of fatherly duty towards the werewolf carrying your hybrid bun in her oven.” Rebekah rolled her amused eyes at his faux emotional tone of voice and looked back to Annalise as Nik chuckled. “Find anything?”

“Nothing, nada.” Annalise shook her head with a wince, lifting her mug to take a scalding sip. “But I gotta say that makes sense – if she removed your memories – she’s there willingly and she doesn’t wanna be found. She’s hiding herself well, in a way no witch could track her.”

“Great.” Rebekah sighed. “Looks like we have to do things manually. Shotgun I’m not on werewolf babysitting duty.”

“Well, the werewolf would like to know what the plan is.” Hayley entered just as Nik smirked amusedly at Rebekah, clutching a thick journal with a large ‘M’ embossed on the cover to her chest. 

“That depends what plan you mean, love,” Nik turned to her, still in a remarkably good mood, making Annalise smile lightly behind her mug, “Do you mean my plan for world domination, Lissie’s quest to abuse all the furniture I own, or Rebekah’s plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world?”

Lis couldn’t help snorting as Rebekah threw a paintbrush with pin-point accuracy to his face at his dramatic flair of an insult – one he caught effortlessly with a teasing smirk inches from his face. Hayley was amused, but clearly had more important things on her mind as she sighed.

“The plan is to rescue _Elijah._ You know, the good brother? The one who is now in the possession of your mortal enemy after you stabbed him in the back?”

Nik’s good-natured smirk didn’t drop; if anything, it grew as he retorted. “In the front, if we’re being specific.” His eyes flicked down to the journal in her hand. “Good brother huh? I didn’t believe you’d need to go digging in his journal to uncover that truth you little busy body. I’m plenty evidence to the fact.”

Hayley rolled her eyes, not in the mood. “You said that you’d get him back. So, is there a plan, or what?”

“Oh, well, certainly.” Nik moved to lean against the table Lis was still sitting on, facing Hayley with a dimpled smile. “Firstly, Marcel’s not my enemy, he’s my friend.” He proceeded to twirl the paintbrush through his fingers with practiced ease as he shrugged. “Albeit one who is unaware that I’m trying to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter, but a friend nonetheless.” Lis and Rebekah exchanged a glance, amused at his theatrics as Nik continued. “Secondly, I daggered Elijah in order to gain Marcel’s trust. If I had known he would place my brother in the hands of a particularly nasty magically competent teenager, I certainly would’ve weighed my options a bit differently. And thirdly,” Nik gestured to Rebekah with a grin, wanting her to finish his sentence.

Rebekah rolled her eyes but compiled. “And thirdly, the plan, as you have demanded, is for Niklaus to simply ask Marcel for Elijah back.”

Hayley straightened, looking between the pair incredulously. “That’s…not the whole plan, is it?”

Rebekah smirked. “Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a sibling, but there is none more diabolical.”

Annalise shrugged, answering Hayley more directly. “Yup. It’s the whole plan, at least, it’s one of them. The high road, so to speak. The one I’m gunning for.”

Nik threw a jovial arm around Lis, squeezing her shoulders. “Please. Plan A is boring. Plan B, is always more exciting.”

Hayley looked vaguely worried at Lis’ sigh. Dread pooled in her tone as she asked hesitantly, “And what’s plan B?”

Nik’s smirk grew wider, and darker, even as it dimpled.

“ _War.”_

Annalise let out an almost fond huff as she rolled her eyes.

“And here we go again.”

-

“I don’t know how you’re not sweating.” Rebekah looked at Annalise dressed in light blue skinny jeans and a white shirt under a long pink cardigan as she fanned herself in the shade outside the Jardin Gris Voodoo Shop.

Lis shrugged, reaching up to tighten her ponytail. “Aussie summers are worse, and we had plovers. Horrible, really. I remember running for my life.” As she shuddered in remembrance, Rebekah passed her an odd look, before choosing to delicately move on.

“Sophie said she’d be here; I don’t know what’s taking her so long.”

Annalise hummed non-committally as she also moved to also stand in the shade with Rebekah and out of the way of the busy tourist traffic, absent-mindedly thinking back over their day. They had agreed to check out the shop Hayley had bought wolfsbane from the night before while Nik implemented Plan A to ask Marcel politely. He had figured that since Hayley had been attacked soon after visiting the voodoo shop, the witch who had served Hayley must have a direct link to the vampire faction. His scheming mind had then reached the conclusion that the witch most probably consorted with a vampire – that was something that could be exploited. Only, they couldn’t risk their only lead suspecting something was up and fleeing immediately, so naturally, they were waiting on a local witch to help them appear at least a bit friendly – Sophie Deveraux.

Apparently, she was the sister of the witch who had summoned Nik to New Orleans, and then ultimately met a publicly grisly end at the hands of Marcel, thus apparently fuelling her desire to tear his empire down. 

Fair.

As Lis moved closer to the shop window, her eyes caught sight of a few legit-looking tomes on the shelves behind the counter of the tourist voodoo shop. Her eyes narrowed. It seemed the woman behind the counter was a witch alright, no matter the fancy but otherwise useless trinkets that littered the store to attract customers. 

Wait.

Annalise's eyes caught on a shelf about ready to collapse under the weight of thick and yellowed dusty tomes, almost hidden in an unassuming nook. Underneath the more traditional brown tomes, lay a black one.

Her breath caught.

Universally, while witches never really had a filing system (honestly the Dewey Decimal system could do wonders in the Magical world), tomes were known to classically come in three colours. Brown was most common and held theory about Ancestral and natural magic; a deep burgundy, was next. Burgundy tomes signified blood magics, sacrificial magics, voodoo and the like. Black tomes, like the few she was researching back at home, dealt purely with death and necromancy. Those were exceedingly rare, and she’d already pilfered her university and left believable fakes behind. If Annalise had gotten caught checking those tightly regulated dark magics books out after the shitshow that had driven her from college…it wouldn’t have ended well for her, to say the least.

But she’d needed those tomes. For Bonnie…for _Kol._

And now, here was another one.

She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling chilly, and strangely bereft. Annalise let her gaze pass across the already busy streets aimlessly as she bit the inside of her cheek in thought. For so long, from the moment she’d met him, she’d blushed, become flustered at his effortless charm, but she’d never entertained the idea that it could be something… _more._ When she’d lost Kol…she had felt loss. _Obviously._ And Silas had used that. Taken advantage of her guilt. Amplified it.

But she now realised that the loss she had felt had been different. She hadn’t felt that keen of a loss when her parents died, or even when she’d thought she’d failed Nik and Elena, for that matter. This loss had felt like she was mourning for _what could have been_.

Right, that was a start. Annalise had had a crush on the guy…so what?

Why was she so invested? Why go to such lengths to get a guy back that she’d kissed once? _After_ he died. That was strange, wasn’t it?

She shut her eyes tiredly, letting her head fall back against the prickly brick behind her as the memory of a phantom kiss brushed against her lips. She remembered how addictive it had felt. How she’d gotten so lost in his embrace that her problems had become something less than an afterthought; felt so light as if she were seconds away from floating, but been anchored in something _deep,_ and _comforting_ at the same time _._ Something that felt _right._

 _Fuck._ This was messed up.

Feeling a slight nudge in her ribs, Annalise opened her eyes and tried to muster a believable smile. “What’s up?”

Going by Rebekah’s thoughtful frown, she failed spectacularly. “What’s with you? Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’re different. I’ve seen your face fall when you think no one’s watching.”

“No, pfft. I- It’s, uh…it’s nothing.” Annalise had straightened immediately, shaking her head in what she hoped was a blasé manner, but deflated as Rebekah’s no-nonsense glare worsened. She hadn’t told anyone.

Maybe she just needed to get it out of her system? It _was_ eating away at her, so maybe sharing her muddled thoughts with Rebekah might help her make sense of it all.

Annalise inhaled deeply. “Uh okay so…remember when we dropped the veil a couple months ago?” Rebekah’s expression turned dead-pan, making Lis continue on in a sheepish rush. “Well, uh…I, so when I couldn’t…when Bonnie dropped the veil again, and he, Kol, that is…he-”

_“Lissie.”_

Her friend’s unimpressed glare had her blurting the rest of her words out in an almost indiscernible rush. “Kol kissed me before he literally ghosted me. Emphasis on _literally._ Not by choice though, in his defence.”

Rebekah’s stare remained unmoved before it increased in intensity, making Lis ever regret even opening her stupid mouth. Rebekah erupted. “Kol _kissed_ you?! That little manipulating _weasel, I swear-”_

Oh.

“No, no, no, it was consensual. Uh…both…parties- uh participated, um…I kissed him back?” Annalise fumbled over her words, managing a wide awkward smile at her friend. Rebekah stared at her for a moment longer before smiling widely, “I _knew_ it!” then losing it immediately the next second. “Does Klaus know?”

Annalise shook her head, letting her eyes fall shut as she sagged back against the wall. “No. You’re the first.”

“Good. Don't tell anyone else. If Nik hears wind of this...” Rebekah leaned back against the wall with her, arm pressing comfortingly against hers. “My brother, he, he’s killed everyone I loved over the years, again, and again, until I finally stopped falling in love. He said he was protecting me from my mistakes, that no one was ever good enough for me.”

“But he’s never said anything about Kol and I spending time together, he seemed almost amused when I-” Annalise scowled. “Wait, he doesn’t get to choose for me, for _us_ , I don’t need his _permission._ I’m not even his _sister_.”

“No, you’re worse.” Rebekah shook her head, throwing her a sad smile. “You’re his best friend. Mine too. This isn’t a case of whether you’re good enough for Kol, it’s a matter of whether he’s good enough for _you._ If he breaks your heart, if he _ruins_ you, like every single other poor girl he’s ruined over the years, _we_ could lose you. Nik wouldn’t ever risk it. It’s a good thing he’s already dead, Nik would dagger him if he found out.”

“Don’t,” Annalise frowned, looking away, “don’t say that. He was good to me; he was my friend, and I think liking him is _my_ decision to make, or not make, I don’t even know at this point. But Beks, I can’t just-”

“You can’t just silence how you feel.” Bekah smiled sadly. “I know, Lissie. More than anyone. But he’s passed now. It’s only healthy for you to move on.”

Annalise looked down, trying to blink back her tears. “But I can’t just-”

“I understand, Lissie.” Rebekah brought her in for a tight hug. “Just let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

Lis buried her face in Rebekah’s shoulder, holding in her tears of frustration as crowds on the pavement passed by around them.

“Am I interrupting something?” A sarcastic feminine voice spoke up behind them, and Rebekah turned to face the woman with a glower while Annalise quickly cleared her expression and tried to make herself look presentable while her friend spoke.

“Oh, you _finally_ made it. Elijah only lies daggered and rotting whilst you dilly-dally.” The brunette woman rolled her eyes at Rebekah’s snide comment.

Right, so this was Sophie. “You’re lucky I came at all. What do you want?”

Rebekah crossed arms blankly. “Hayley was attacked last night by Marcel’s crew because _somebody_ told him there was a werewolf in the quarter. She only made one stop. Whoever saw her here ratted her out.” Rebekah smirked, sweeping into the store casually. “Watch and learn.”

Lis let Sophie wander in first, before she awkwardly followed behind her. At the gentle ring of the bell hanging over the door, a smiling woman emerged from the backroom carrying a large cardboard box. “Hey Soph.”

“Hey Katie.” Sophie smiled back at her friend while Annalise tried to casually follow Bekah’s lead and browse the obviously tourist-y knockoff items of witchcraft lining the shelves of the store. She felt a small smile quirk on her lips as she picked up a small decorative jar with a gold pentagram scratched into the side. Dried petals of lavender and pink primrose filled it. Such a _scam._

“Oh, good choice, miss. Put your most painful memories in and lock them away forever. Perfect for the heartbreak that surrounds you.” Katie, the owner of the store, called over to her from the register. Annalise raised an amused brow, but Rebekah interrupted, moving closer to the counter.

“I seriously doubt that. Do you have any others, one with, say…I don’t know, wolfbane, perhaps?”

Confusion and suspicion entered Katie’s gaze as both Sophie and Annalise moved to stand behind Rebekah. “Why would you want that?”

Rebekah clearly reached the end of her patience – she had sped behind the counter the next second, holding Katie up in the air in a violent chokehold. “Please do _not_ play dumb with me.” She emphasised her point by slamming her back on the counter.

“Wow, Beks. Subtle.”

Annalise raised her eyebrows at this display, but she wasn’t as surprised as Sophie was when she exclaimed in shock at her friend being hurt. Rebekah and Hayley had become close over the last two days, and the fact that this witch had played a part in hurting her had Rebekah justifiably incensed.

Katie looked to Rebekah in fear. “I just sold a werewolf some herbs, that’s all.” Her gaze darted, and Annalise felt her own expression turn annoyed. She was so obviously lying and trying to buy time _._ The sooner she answered, the quicker they could get enough leverage to get Elijah back.

Rebekah’s own glare worsened. “Why are you lying, Katie? I suggest you answer my question honestly.”

Katie looked over to Sophie for help, but the witch just shook her head uncomfortably. “Just answer her Katie. Please.”

Annalise glared when Katie’s eyes moved to hers hesitantly, hoping she’d step in. Fuck that. If Katie had had her way, she would’ve had Hayley killed. “Answer her now, or I use a handy truth spell to get what we need from you and leave you to greet Marcel when he comes looking for the source.”

Katie frowned at her, but nodded as she realised she had no one on her side. “Yes, I told someone, but you don’t understand. I-I love him.”

Rebekah rolled her eyes, throwing Katie down to the floor before bracing the heel of her killer stiletto to the girl’s neck. “And tell me, who is this vampire Romeo of yours? Shall I count to three?”

Annalise felt sympathy crawl up her chest as the witch cowered on the ground in fear, but she swallowed it back down forcefully. They needed answers, and they didn’t have time to spare.

“Fine, fine, please. Hi-his name’s Thierry.”

Relief filled Lis’ rigid shoulders as her friend gave Katie a smug smile and stepped away. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it love?”

As Rebekah stepped outside to deliver Nik the good news, followed silently by Sophie, Annalise quietly helped Katie up, then helped her right a few racks that had fallen over. Her guilt had come to swallow her whole as Annalise realised that she would’ve let Bekah hurt the witch more had she not offered up answers so readily.

Katie didn’t thank her, or even look her in the eye as she left the shop to join Rebekah.

That was okay. It helped, actually.

As Annalise silently joined Rebekah and Sophie in making their way back to the mansion, she felt less guilty about the heavy black tome in her bag, hitting against her knee with every step.

Kol was…she couldn’t think about him. Not when Rebekah’s initial response had been condemning, and final response had been…comforting her loss. Kol had become one of her best friends, bonded with her over the love of magic, then left her life just as suddenly as he’d entered it.

But the way his amber eyes had softened when he’d cupped her face, the way he’d pulled her into him and made her freaking _melt_ refused to leave the forefront of her mind.

Annalise no longer knew how exactly she felt about Kol; she had gotten caught up in his magnetic gravity and then he had died before they’d even begun to explore whatever existed between the pair.

But she did know one thing. Annalise couldn’t only think of him.

No, she was going to do this for the girl who sacrificed her life for the boy she loved and his family. The girl that had been there for her when she’d thought she had no one else.

Annalise wasn’t about to fail Bonnie again.

-

The five of them were scattered at odd places around the lavish living area – Hayley lingered near the door while Rebekah paced behind the armchair that Annalise leant against. Nik sat on the one beside her, facing an incredulous Sophie.

It felt as though this entire conversation had twisted Lis’ lips into a permanent scowl as she shook her head in disbelief. “What the fuck? _No.”_ Annalise scowled at Nik before half-heartedly turning to Hayley. “No offence.”

Hayley passed her an uncaring shrug along with an amused smile as she watched her stand in disbelief. “Have I mentioned how stupid this plan is?”

“I agree.” Sophie nodded at her from where she sat on the opposite sofa, arms crossed. “Witches who practice magic in this town get caught. And they get killed.”

“Yes, about that.” Nik leant forwards in his seat, narrowing his eyes at the French Quarter witch. “But it seems you left out a crucial detail when we made our deal; Marcel’s secret weapon – the way he knows when witches use magic.” Annalise rolled her eyes in disbelief at being ignored by the siblings as Rebekah raised her hand to her own shoulder.

“A girl about this high. Cute as a button. Anger issues.”

Disbelief dawned on Sophie’s face. “Davina?” She said breathlessly. Annalise exchanged a glance with Nik as they straightened. Sophie knew her. When Sophie spoke next, it sounded as though she was trying to change her tone into something more deceptively casual. “Where have you seen her?”

“I dunno.” Rebekah sighed, sitting on the armchair Lis leant against. “She erased my mind after she threw me out of a window with her bloody mind.”

“Let me cut to the chase.” Nik jumped in, looking solemnly at Sophie. “Davina has Elijah. You witches, I assume, want to get Davina away from Marcel. You don’t know where she is, ergo, do magic.”

Sophie shook her head resolutely. “Davina would sense it.”

“Unless of course some other witch, say a traitor to the cause, Katie…for example, was to perform a much more powerful magic at the same time. That would create a smokescreen that would shield your very small spell from Davina.” Rebekah offered, looking at Sophie significantly.

“That makes no sense.” Lis spread her arms wide, finally reaching the end of her line. “I've already tried and failed to locate the little brat so exactly what part of _she’s hidden herself,_ don’t you understand? Plus, this whole plan about using Katie as a distraction while Sophie does the spell doesn’t seem right.”

“Oh, don’t play the paragon of virtue when no less than half an hour ago you threatened Katie with the same thing. You did threaten to bring Marcel to her doorstep, did you not?”

Annalise drew back in insult, hurt. “That’s not fair.”

Nik’s lips flattened before he sighed, lowering his tone to a gentler one as he looked at her sincerely. “It is, Lissie. I’ve already seen you place me, my family above all else and I thank you for it. You’ve protected us, but that’s often not enough. When it comes to protecting my family, your threats can’t be empty.”

“And they aren’t. No matter how much it scares me.” Lis cut in defensively. “But now? When her death would be meaningless? I stand by what I said when I first met you. I refuse to get used to the needless loss of life. I can’t condemn that woman to die when all she did was talk to someone she loved, not when her death would achieve nothing.”

“Exactly. Katie doesn’t deserve to die.” Sophie shook her head, though her eyes lingered in question on Annalise. “You’re a witch?”

“You can say that.” Lis shrugged, heeding Nik’s subtle shake of his head towards her.

Sophie’s confused expression lingered, bleeding into suspicion. “Why don’t you just do the spell then?” She turned to Nik. “You don’t need me. I want no part in this.”

Nik’s lips tightened in annoyance. “Sophie Devereaux.” He stood, walking closer and sitting intimidatingly closer to the witch by seating himself on the coffee table. “You are in no position to be so principled. You can’t win a war without a few strategic losses, no matter how regrettable they may be.” Annalise found herself glaring holes at the timber wood floor as she thought upon Nik’s insistent words. “Think about the witches she’s given up to Thierry, those _she_ condemned to die.” He turned to meet Annalise’s stubborn glare. “Think about the fact that _Hayley_ nearly died due to Katie’s misdeed. This would be her choice to defend her lover.”

Lis shook her head as she crossed her arms stubbornly. “You’re putting her lover in danger. It’s choice you’re _driving_ her to make.” Nik’s eyes narrowed in frustration as Annalise straightened, building up steam and starting to pace. “This is so stupid. What exactly are you trying to achieve here? The spell would do nothing, Davina is hiding, I couldn’t find her, and all your stupid tracking spell is going to do is allow a witch to die. It will achieve nothing.”

Nik stood, standing in her way and crossing his arms. “If anything, it gets rid of Marcel’s right hand man, and I get to get a foot into his inner circle.” He visibly gave up in frustration when her stubborn expression didn’t falter. “You _cannot_ intervene, Lissie. Marcel can’t see you, and I need you here looking out for Hayley. You don’t need to agree with my methods, just please. Do what you do best and keep her safe.”

Lis scrutinised Nik’s expression – once again, he was keeping things from her, and that irked her to no end, but at least he seemed sincere this time. Her eyes darted to Hayley, still standing awkwardly by the door and watching their argument unfold.

Hayley shot her an uncertain smile when their gazes met, and Lis knew Nik was just trying to keep his promise to her about keeping Hayley safe the best way he knew how. 

“Lissie.” Rebekah stood, looking at her in concern. “We aren’t asking you to be okay with this.” She walked to Lis, squeezing her shoulder in comfort. “We’re doing what needs to be done to get Elijah back.”

Annalise felt her shoulders sag as she grudgingly nodded her head in agreement, stepping away. She refused to stand between them and family, no matter how much her stomach turned at the thought of the witch dying to further Nik’s agenda.

Rebekah gave her a small smile from where she stood, before clapping to gain everyone’s attention.

“Right, so I go make sure Marcel has a distraction, you,” she pointed to a frowning Sophie, “convince your friend to kill Marcel, and Nik just has to stand by and nudge Marcel in the right direction. If all goes well, we’ll have our brother with us by the end of tonight.”

Katie…wasn’t innocent. She knowingly sent vampires after Hayley; sent her walking to her death.

That didn’t stop Annalise from feeling sick to her core as she wordlessly nodded.

-

The afternoon sun, lazier in its heat, shone in rays through the tall windows of the sitting room to where Annalise lay on her stomach, feet in the air as she perused a heavy tome. Each turn of the musty book sent small waves of dust dancing in the air as her finger trailed the faded letters in interest.

Hayley was upstairs, wandering the halls of the Plantation House in curiosity or boredom, Lis didn’t know which.

Distantly, she did notice that her evolving signature had stopped for the last half hour – maybe she had found more journals. Annalise was vaguely curious too, but she had more pressing matters to attend to.

Bonnie had been stuck on the Other Side for more than three months now. Kol for more than seven months. And for the first time, Annalise found herself distracted from her earlier dilemma, able to hope for the first time.

This tome provided another more unique perspective on the alternate plane. One she’d never even considered.

It wasn’t _spiritual_ as Lis had been led to believe – The Other Side didn’t contain _ghosts._ It contained the supernatural: still fully _physically intact._ They existed in an intangible form on this plane only for the fact that the magic that made them supernatural allowed for a deeper connection to this earth, as with all magic itself. What appeared on this plane after they’d crossed over was…their magical remnant, so to speak.

If Annalise managed to travel to the Other Side one day, everyone there would be _tangible,_ and very real. Considered technically alive, even. But the magic _on_ the Other Side, what it _consisted_ of, was starkly different to what natural magic consisted of – it was like the energy of life versus the energy of death. Both were completely benign, but while life magic had death magics and necromancy existing alongside it on this Earth, the Other Side has an obvious _absence_ of life magic. This was why Annalise had felt her power draining as she’d tried so naively to draw Kol back to Earth. She had existed in what was essentially a vacuum – and the ash that remained on her fingertips signified where her life had seeped out of her as she’d gripped a soul from the Other Side as tight as she could.

As the tome alluded, the Other Side was almost comparable to Prison Worlds; for all intents and purposes, they existed on this plane, but had little to no life magic; just existing in their own pocket of time. The only life magic that existed there was a mere screenshot replica of what had existed on the day. Like Prison Worlds, the Other Side stored supernatural vessels without Life magic connecting them to the Earth as we know it.

Only weaknesses in the Veil connecting the two worlds allowed for that connection to life, and therefore Earth as an extension - just as a celestial event provides enough magic to tear through the Veil in Prison Worlds.

One you can escape through a weakness in the veil, and the other you escape by overpowering it.

Only…that brought about the next problem. Since the Prison Worlds still contained life magic, if one were to escape it, they would be physically whole on Earth. Easy.

Escaping the Other Side was a whole different story – unless you had an abundance of Life magic as you escaped, all you would manifest as on this plane, would be a ghost. Those with a higher connection to this earth, or more life magic, as it were, would be able to act using the remnant of magic they’d left behind. That was Bonnie right now.

Similarly – mortals who had a brush with death carried back a piece of death magic with them; hence Jeremy being able to _see_ Bonnie, along with other ghosts he had a connection to.

It also made sense then that Bonnie had died in bringing back Jeremy – the classic exchange of her life for his. But…seeing as she was also supercharged with Expression, she should have been able to bring him to life safely in theory…maybe it was because Expression wouldn’t register as life magic?

No, no it would, because Expression didn’t exist at all on the Other Side – the only explanation as to why Bonnie ran out of power would be the most obvious – that it was all used up. Bringing just one soul back wouldn’t have used _all_ her magic up…would it? That wouldn’t be an equivalent exchange.

This was frustrating.

Annalise shut the heavy tome with a thud, sending more dust flying into the air.

None of what she read was good news, but seeing as she’d identified the problem, at least she could get to work on a solution.

Annalise thought back to the ‘Thrylos Tis Gaia’, about how it detailed Qetsiyah using something to anchor the Other Side to this plane – as long as that connection remained, Bonnie was _reachable_ in theory. If she were able to imbue herself with enough life magic from the Other Side, she could…she could just... _step_ over.

It was just a small matter of how Bonnie would ever _find_ enough life magic on the Other Side…if the big zinger that the Other Side offered was the clear _absence_ of life magic.

Absentmindedly, Lis traced the raised insignia on the cover of the tome; a capital T encased in what looked like an eye without a prominent iris – just…black. She vaguely wondered what sort of coven had access to such extensive knowledge about the Other Side, and more importantly… _why?_

Ugh. This was doing her head in.

The stairs creaked, and Annalise looked up just as Nik jogged down the stairs. Moving quickly to discreetly hide the tome back in her bag, she shot him a cheeky grin. “Looking good Nik. Bekah’s already gone ahead.”

He smirked at her, using his hands to shrug on his black suit jacket to better fit over his black dress shirt and tailored slacks. “I look more than good, Lissie.”

Annalise rolled her eyes, grinning. “I’m sure you’ll be the belle of the ball, Nik.”

“Better.” He preened his hair with a dramatic smirk, before levelling her with a serious look. “You can’t be there tonight. No matter what.”

She sighed disappointedly but gave him a slight nod anyway.

“I won’t interfere tonight, promise. You guys stay safe, yeah?”

With one last nod and a quick grin, he was out the front door.

-

Night had fallen relatively quickly afterwards, and Hayley had gone for a walk outside near the pool to burn off their classy mac and cheese dinner to relax to the sound of chirping cicadas.

Annalise chose to read the tome to pass the time, trying to ignore her nerves about the violence happening tonight.

She understood that Nik and Rebekah were no stranger to violence and diabolical schemes if the last few days alone held any indication – but witnessing their disregard for life firsthand shouldn’t surprise her. Not anymore. Not after an entire year of friendship.

But then why did she expect better?

Lis’d known about the infamous Originals even before she’d even met them; heard horror stories about them having tantrums and leaving entire towns worth of bodies in their wake. She’d just been so caught up in everything, she hadn’t even batted an eye.

She’d fooled herself into thinking that was their past – one she had neither defended or condemned. That it didn’t matter because it wouldn’t happen again.

The people she now knew weren’t the emotionless killing machines she’d heard stories about. They’d changed.

But no matter how _much_ they’d changed - after having stepped back for a few months then been exposed to them once more; she was starting to realise just how willing they were to protect their own, and how willing she was to overlook that fact.

Annalise loved them. She did. In fact, she’d go as far as to say that meeting Nik was the best thing to have happened to her for a number of reasons – the main one being they accepted her into their family; that she’d met some of the most incredible people because of it.

Was it truly fair to get worked up over their questionable morals and unethical solutions to problems, if their ends do tend to be _worth_ the means, if not always justifiable?

Annalise paused, and the nervous tapping of her fingers on the wooden armrest of the sofa ceased, casting her into a heavy silence. She felt the swell of magic occur deep in the heart of the French Quarter along with her rising guilt, but the magic had disappeared just as abruptly as it had begun. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about her heavy conscience.

The low buzzing of her phone snapped her out of her thoughts suddenly, and Annalise found herself thankful for the distraction, despite the feel of dread she felt accepting the call. 

“Damon? What’s wrong?”

“Why do you think something’s wrong?” Damon’s glib retort sounded more worried than sarcastic, furthering her bad feeling.

Annalise straightened, narrowing her eyes at nothing, immediately on edge. “Because you didn’t call me all summer and you sound like someone died?”

“Right, point to you.” She could hear him shift on his feet. Something was really wrong. She started packing away her notes and tome quickly as he spoke.“Stefan’s missing.”

“Stefan’s missing?” Annalise echoed grimly in question, feeling her stomach drop as she remembered Kol’s last warning before he faded. “Do we know if he went missing before or after he disposed of Silas?” Sudden fear jolted down her spine. “Shit, _please_ tell me Silas is chilling at the bottom of the quarry-”

“Silas is back.” _Fuck._ She found herself bracing against the sofa in fear, struggling to catch her breath at the sudden feel of being unable to control her limbs while she _was dying, helpless in his arms as dark eyes implored her to fight back-_

“He’s freaking Darth Vader over here,” Damon’s tinny voice echoed down the line – sarcasm masking no small amount of fear, “He made the mayor slit his own throat in front of the entire town, then mass-wiped everyone’s memory of it. He’s after Katherine now.”

“Rudy? Rudy’s _dead?”_ Annalise had fallen slumped against the wall with a thud, her heart felt as though it was beating out of her chest as she remembered the warm cups of tea he’d bring her when she’d stayed with Bonnie. How he’d made her promise to look after Bonnie.

She struggled to speak. “I-I, how did we miss him? Stefan-”

“Turns out he’s Silas’s doppelganger. I need you to come back, help me find him. Please, Lis.”

There it went. The world stilled again, and Annalise found herself staring at the old floorboards despondently. It was too much. Blow after blow – something had to give, right? What if it was her?

Caelesti’s vision, the Silas and Amara’s doppelgangers, and Qetsiyah and Gaia’s descendants meeting once more – all the pieces were now on the table, in play. The prophecy was _true,_ wasn’t it?

A memory from all those months ago came to mind. Kol, sitting next to her on her bed, watching her with that unreadable look in his eyes. _“Do you believe it? That it was fate that brought you here, to Mystic Falls? To die?”_

“Peaches? You still there?”

Resolve built bitterly in her chest. Sure, she may have changed - stood by and watched while her friends did what needed to be done. Changed for better or worse, Lis didn’t know.

But what she did know, was that her answer remained the same.

_“…No point finding something else to blame. It’s all on me, and I’ll deal with what follows.”_

She’d deal with what follows.

Annalise took a deep breath and found herself on her feet once more, nodding along to Damon’s insistent words.

“Look, focus. We need you back here. Yesterday.”

“Fine, yeah. I’ll be right there. Stay safe.”

Annalise hung up and rushed until she found herself at the bottom of the tall stairs with packed duffels at her feet. She had sent a quick text to both Rebekah and Nik; neither had responded, but she still identified their signatures safe and wandering the French Quarter.

Her first instinct had been to teleport to them, to let them know she needed to leave – but Nik’s warning rang loudly in her ears. Showing herself to Marcel could compromise any ground Nik had gained tonight, it might even cost him her brother.

A text would have to do for now.

Next order of business – Hayley. As she called out for her, the wolf’s voice echoed from the kitchen. But…her blood chilled when Lis realised Hayley wasn’t alone.

Annalise dashed to the kitchen, noting the magical presence of someone else next to the pregnant wolf. Bursting in through the double doors in preparation of a fight despite the fact that Hayley sounded relatively unbothered, Lis raised her hand at the woman at Hayley’s side threateningly. “Get away from her.”

Nik hadn’t mentioned having any visitors tonight.

“Lissie, calm down.” Hayley lay on the kitchen table, looking at her in disbelief while seemingly at perfect ease with having a beautiful dark-skinned woman holding a crystal hanging on a chain over her stomach. Annalise glared at the witch suspiciously as she neared, while Hayley craned her neck up, passing her a reassuring look.

“Lis. This is Sabine, one of Sophie’s friends. She was just going to tell me the gender of the baby.”

Distaste curled Lis’ lips at the falsely polite smile she received from Sabine. Something about her felt...off. “Hayley I don’t think-”

“Please? It’s not magic - it’s just a witch trick.” Hayley’s puppy eyes had Lis walking unsurely to her other side, eyes still stuck on Sabine, who was studying her just as intensely. There was something wrong with the witch. Something unnatural, something that unsettled Annalise deeply. Hayley gripped her hand when she was close enough; distracting her hard gaze, as she nodded hesitantly.

Sabine offered her a small smile – another fake one, but shut her eyes all the same as Lis’s eyes narrowed on her. She let the chain dangle and swing over Hayley’s pregnant stomach for a few more moments before smiling slightly. “I think it’s a girl.”

Hayley’s smile was blinding as she looked to Lis – she couldn’t help but squeeze her hand, grinning back.

Something in the air charged. Annalise’s eyes furrowed once more and drew back to the pendant when the crystal suddenly started swinging in the other direction – Sabine also looked at it in confusion. “No…wait.”

“Wait what?” Hayley propped herself up slightly on her elbows, grinning nervously. “Please tell me I’m not having a mini-Klaus.”

The clear crystal started to glow as it spun faster and faster, heating up until Sabine dropped it with a loud wince. All of a sudden, it was as if a seizure had gripped a hold of the witch – her head snapped upwards, and her eyes rolled back revealing their whites as a heavy chant escaped her subconsciously. “ _Hoc est infantima malom. Nos omnia perditu el eam.”_

Annalise grew rigid. Oh, _fucking hell_.

As Sabine snapped back to reality, Lis’s grip on Hayley had tightened to an uncomfortable extent, but she didn’t notice Hayley’s wince – no she was too busy glaring daggers at the witch. Annalise’s lips had fallen into a grim line as Sabine looked towards them once more.

 _“Leave._ ”

Sabine’s eyes widened at the pure venom dripping from Lis’s warning and her mouth opened to question it, but Annalise wasn’t about to give her a chance. “Fuckin’ leave if you know what’s good for you. _Now.”_

Sabine grew rigid and studied Annalise closer than before – shivers ran up her spine when Lis finally realised the amount of power Sabine held…she didn’t feel like a normal witch, it felt as though death had touched her.

As Sabine left curtly, Hayley sat up, looking at her worriedly. “What the hell, Lissie?”

Annalise helped the pregnant wolf climb down from off the table gently. “Hayley, I need you to listen carefully, yeah? I need to leave, there’s an emergency in Mystic Falls and I need to be there right now. But you need to be careful, and run the fuck away from any and all witches you come across, yeah? And tell Nik that too. _Shit,_ I wish I could stay but I need to be in Mystic Falls right now.”

Hayley followed behind her, confused, as Annalise rushed to pick up her bags and walk out of the house and to the cherry convertible parked in the driveway. “Wait, hey, Lissie, what’s going on?”

Annalise paused her piling her bags into Bekah’s car, turning to face the panicked wolf. “Sabine, I think she had a vision. Then she said something in Latin – thank fuck I took a course in it. She said, and this is me translating word for word; ‘ _This child is evil, it will destroy us all.’_ ” Hayley’s face blanched, but Lis gave her a hurried hug. She stepped away, squeezing the wide-eyed wolf’s shoulders in silent support as she continued. “No doubt she’s telling all her friends now. You need to tell Nik – he’ll prepare for the worst. I need to leave now because Silas is terrorising Mystic Falls. Tell Bekah and Nik to stay safe, that I’ll ditch this car as soon as I reach the city limits and teleport straight to Mystic Falls so I won’t get on that witch’s radar.”

Annalise let Hayley go after drawing her into another tight hug, then jumping in the driver’s seat hurriedly before pausing. “I’m sorry. I know this is rushed, but they’re already on their way back. You won’t be alone.”

Hayley nodded uncertainly, so Annalise reached out towards her as she sat in the driver’s seat, passing her a solemn nod.

“Stay safe. I’ll be back as soon as this shit is over. I’m sorry, for leaving you to deal with all this.”

Hayley crossed her arms, curling in on herself, but nodded slightly, passing her a small smile. “I’ll be fine. I always am. You’re just a call away, right?”

“Right.”

With one last nod at the werewolf, Annalise pressed hard on the accelerator, kicking up dust as she raced out of the driveway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Thank you so much for the comments on my last chapter, I promise I'll get to them soon after I've uploaded the next chapter!


	39. The Original Sin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!  
> Moving house is so much more time consuming than I thought - thanks for bearing with me.  
> Warning: kidnapping once again, and canon-typical violence. Also - I'm not sure how to describe it...but I believe non-consensual branding/spell on a character would work best. No graphic description of pain however. Please let me know if I inadequately described it.  
> Hope you Enjoy!

Birds chirped, and the dull roar of the waterfall beside them filled the air as Annalise stood on the edge of a tall cliff, watching the calmed waves lap against the rocks in the quarry below. Damon and Sheriff Liz Forbes stood beside her, also staring the depths of the murky water grimly.

Liz finally broke the heavy silence. “Damon, I know I said I’d help you find your brother, but I can’t dredge this entire quarry. It’s enormous.”

“And there’d be no point.” Annalise shot Damon a pitying look even as he glared at her petulantly. “He’s not there. I can’t feel his signature at all.”

“Are you sure Peach?" Damon ran a stressed hand through his hair, stepping backwards. "The quarry’s big, and deep. You might be missing something.” Lis frowned at the water before looking back to shrug at him helplessly.

“I don’t know. I did feel some spikes of magic here a few days back. Maybe it’s related but nothing's here anymore. I’m sorry.”

Damon’s lips flattened in disappointment at the pity that coloured her tone – even he knew what it meant if Stefan was down there but had no magic signature. He looked hopeless for a split second, before directing his determined glare towards the Sheriff once more. “Liz, I don’t care how you’re gonna do it, but you’re gonna dredge it.”

Sheriff Forbes sighed, shaking her head as sympathy clouded her eyes. “Damon, I already agreed to hold on telling anyone about the Mayor’s death until you figure this all out, but I can’t devote those kinds of resources to finding _one_ person that might not even be down there.”

“But it’s a place to start. And if Stefan’s down there,” Damon’s voice took on a bitter edge as he stepped away from the cliff’s edge to the sheriff’s car parked behind them, “that means he’s been drowning over and over again all summer, while I’ve been playing house with Elena. Do I need to further elaborate the source of my urgency?”

Liz and Annalise exchanged a soft glance before the sheriff nodded, moving away. “I’ll get some deputies on it.”

“Thank you, Liz.” As she left, Annalise shot Damon a small smile.

“This isn’t your fault you know? You shouldn’t feel guilty for being happy.”

Damon smiled flatly, looking away. He clearly thought differently. “Yeah, well. I’ll feel happy when we find him again.”

Annalise nodded, stepping away. “Of course. I’ll just have a quick walk around the area, see if I feel anything out of place.”

“Hey, Lissie.” As Annalise walked away and down the steep rocks to the side of the quarry, she heard Damon call after her. She turned. “I appreciate this.”

She smirked, passing him a small shrug. “No worries, mate. Don’t forget, this is my problem too. The sooner I get this shit sorted, the sooner I can dance it up in New Orleans.” 

-

Annalise was glad that the foliage around her had thinned to some extent – her platform boots were really not ideal for this impromptu trek. She’d nearly rolled her ankle more times than she could count. Swatting another branch away from her field of vision, Lis paused suddenly, eyes narrowed.

She had reached a small clearing right next to the gently lapping water of the quarry – more significantly, situated in the middle of the rocky clearing was a huge safe; old-fashioned and dark with gilded gold edges.

This was the same safe that an emotionless Elena had been trapped in.

She had no doubt that this was the safe that Damon locked Silas in. Annalise didn’t feel any magic from it – optimistically, that meant it was empty. Only problem was, it now begged the question where the hell Stefan was.

 _Fuck._ Kol had been right. Bonnie’s death had freed him, and being the dumbass she was, Lis had stupidly researched ways to bring back the dead instead of focusing her energy on taking care of Silas. Now her poor life choices were biting her in the ass. Like usual.

She quickly brought the phone to her ear. “Damon, I found it. I found the safe. It’s in a clearing about a mile North from where we spoke this morning, down by the water.”

“And?” She heard dread enter his voice.

“I can’t feel anything living, or y’know, anything remotely magical in there. I’m sorry.”

“Can you check?” Damon’s voice sounded weaker than she’d ever heard it. She found herself wordlessly nodding as her feet carried herself to the side of the large safe – it came up to her hip in width alone. Annalise reached for the handle, before hefting the heavy lid up with a small huff.

Bile rose in her throat as she stumbled back in shock, letting the door fall shut with a loud metal clang once more. “Peach? Peach, you there?” Damon’s voice managed to break through her own hyperventilating state…she clenched her eyes shut tight and rubbed them hard under her glasses trying to erase the image she just saw out of her mind.

“Yeah, uh…there’s a d-dead body in the safe. Very bloody. Very dead.”

“No Stefan?” Damon’s relief was almost palpable when he sighed as if a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders.

“No Stefan.” Annalise sighed in confirmation as she felt her shoulders sag. “A dead body feels like a cause to call the sheriff.”

“Yeah, you do that. I have a few things to figure out on my end.”

“Sure, okay. Mind if I crash at yours? I think I deserve free boarding.” Annalise sagged against a tree. “You made me trek in boots and stumble on a dead body. I’m both exhausted and scarred for life.”

“Only if you babysit the _insufferable_ bitch I also have crashing here.” Damon sounded like he was smirking. “Feels like I’m running a daycare with how much she complains about feeling icky and hungry.”

“Katherine’s your problem, Damon. Plus, she stole my _blood,_ and I still have no clue why.”

“Fine, let her suffer, suits me better honestly.”

Annalise found herself chuckling lightly, shaking her head. “Right. Catch you later, ‘gater.”

“What are you, five?” The dial tone rang in her ear before she had the chance to retort, so she shook her head with a smile tugging at her lips as she went to dial the sheriff’s number instead.

Lis’ fingers paused their tapping when the low crack of a branch sounded suspiciously close behind her – she turned immediately, but was greeted with empty foliage. Letting her senses spread around her widely, Annalise faltered when she didn’t feel anyone close by for miles around, apart from the few deputies from the sheriff’s department still cluelessly trying to dredge the quarry.

Despite evidence that she was alone, Annalise couldn’t shake the sense that she was being watched closely. Turning in a slow circle, she stiffened.

While nothing had flared on her senses, Lis felt a large, spreading presence surround her. Whatever it was, their magic was hidden, but Annalise was able to feel the nature around her respond to it, greet it, almost.

Her mouth felt dry as she tamped down the fear that built heavily in her chest.

Annalise jolted as she felt sudden magic hit her from the side – she twisted on her feet as she fought the effect of the spell had on her body – it was slowing her down, making it harder for her to focus. Wincing she whipped her own magic in the general direction the attack came from, but once more flailed as she was hit from the other side. Her lethargy grew, and she felt her grip on her phone loosen to the point she heard it softly land on the dirt next to her feet.

_Fuck no._

Lis concentrated on her magic, then visualised it burning through her body, getting rid of the foreign influence of magic in her body with a yell. Her eyes flared bright as she then focused her anger outwards, letting loose a powerful blast of magic. Dirt and dead leaves whipped into the air, and she heard several groans of the trees around her respond to her.

She caught her breath.

“You’re strong.”

Annalise turned on her heel angrily to face the silky feminine voice calling out from behind her. A beautiful woman stood in the clearing; brown skinned with long wavy hair flowing lightly in a non-existent wind. She looked ethereal; and despite being dressed in modern clothes, she carried herself almost regally.

The woman tilted her head curiously at her, as if studying something lesser. “Pity you’ll never compare.” Her face twisted into an ugly scowl, as did her hand, and Annalise found herself flying back against the rough bark of the tree, hitting it hard enough to force the air from her lungs. The next moment, she found herself on the ground, eyes fluttering shut as a wave of magic overpowered her own.

The woman walked closer slowly, crouching to gently push Lis’ hair behind her ear, then stroking her head gently. “That’s okay, γλυκιά μου, it’ll make this easier.”

-

Hard porcelain nudged her lips as Annalise came to, followed closely by a mouthful of all too familiarly bitter-sweet herbal tea. She spluttered, then turned to the side to cough out the warm liquid on the floor, grimacing when the tea ran down her chin. As she wiped the side of her mouth into her shoulder, she looked up angrily at the woman crouching in front of her, still wearing a slight smile. Lis felt the back of a wooden chair under her clenched fists tied behind her back with rope as she took in the interior of what looked like a tiny cottage.

With her hands and feet bound, Lis scowled at the woman in front of her, tugging at her bonds angrily. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m insulted.” The woman straightened, walking gracefully over to the kettle set on the stove to pour another cup of tea into the cup with the grace of a queen. “I expected more from Gaia’s descendent.”

Annalise took a moment to realise that despite her magic feeling weaker, she could definitely feel the large permeating presence in the room; the same one that she’d felt in the forest. Only this time, the magic wasn’t hidden. It overpowered everything in its vicinity, almost like Silas but _worse_ , stifling in an almost vicious manner.

_Shit._

“Qetsiyah.”

Qetsiyah smiled winningly, perfect teeth bared in what seemed to be a gentle smile. “Lovely to meet you, Annalise. Call me Tessa.” She walked back to her side and lifted the teacup to her lips. “Here, have some more tea.”

Annalise scowled, moving her face away from the offensively strong and bitter smell drifting from the teacup. “Did you really think I didn’t know what lobelia smells like, _Tessa?”_

“Hm...that’s a pity.” Qetsiyah stood once more, unbothered. “No matter. I was able to feed you enough to keep you powerless for the time being.” Annalise fiddled with the binds behind her back as Tessa brushed down her skirt, putting the cup down on the kitchen counter of the small cabin delicately.

“How are you here?” Lis narrowed her eyes at the witch, voice raising in anger. “How’d you escape the Other Side?”

Qetsiyah didn't answer, only raising a finger to her lips and looking significantly at the other corner of the room. Annalise’s head whipped to her right when a form shifted on a small cot occupying the space underneath a large window.

Tessa smiled, moving to sit on a small chair in front of the cot. “Oh good. Our guest is up. Shush for a moment.”

Something heavy suddenly sat in Lis’ throat, making her choke on the words she was about to utter as the form on the cot sat up, gasping for air - the man noticed Tessa in front of him almost immediately, and held a hand up in warning.

“I don’t want to hurt you, so get away before I rip your throat out.”

Annalise’s eyes widened – _Stefan._

Tessa held a blood bag out in response, unfazed by his less than stellar greeting. “Hello to you too. I brought dinner.” 

Annalise found her mouth wouldn’t open no matter how much she willed it to as Stefan grabbed the blood bag viciously and sank his teeth into it with a sigh of relief. Tess must have spelled her to remain silent, and thanks to that god awful herb, she was powerless to fight it.

Fuck lobelia.

Annalise narrowed her eyes at Qetsiyah as she watched Stefan bite deliciously into the blood bag, devouring it in mere seconds. “A vampire doppelganger with a conscience. Now I’ve seen everything.” Tessa sounded amused as she remarked.

“Why did you save me from burning to death outside a bar this morning?” Annalise struggled harder, drawing Stefan’s attention to her. His shocked eyes immediately turned suspicious as he put the blood bag away and stood, asking defensively. “Better question; why do you have Lis tied up in your creepy little cabin?”

“Both great questions.” Tessa shrugged in her chair, not lifting a hand when Stefan appeared at Annalise’s side and crouched to release her from her bonds. Annalise noticed her gaze linger on the worry in Stefan’s eyes as he loosened the ties at her feet, watching the pair closely as she continued. “She was just conveniently here, and I’ve managed to subdue both her and her powers, but you, oh you took some effort. I pulled you from the quarry a few days before.” Lis’ brows raised in comprehension – the power spikes she marked on her map. Goddamit, she should have looked into them more.

“Well, that is, I figured out where you were and told the former owner of this cabin to pull your lock box from the water. You thanked him...by biting off his head.”

Stefan paused, catching Lis’ small nod of confirmation despairingly. Nausea turned her stomach, knowing that this cabin had once belonged to the mutilated corpse she had found in the safe, and it only worsened when she thought of Stefan’s now gentle hands returning to his task of freeing her had been the cause of his death, and had once been the near cause of her own.

The innocent man’s death had brought to surface old traumas she’d thought she’d managed, and the sudden thought that she might have ended up like that corpse too had her flinching away from his supportive touch as she stood, rubbing at her sore wrists.

Stefan’s expression fell slightly, but Annalise couldn’t allow herself to take her focus off of the real threat in the room - Qetsiyah’s pleased smirk widened in intrigue. Stefan moved around her to her side, putting himself between the powerful magic-user and the currently debilitated one. “How did you know I was a doppelganger?”

Annalise mentally applauded him, frustrated that her ability to speak still hadn’t returned to her. At least he was on the right track. She passed him a small smile and a supportive nod, hoping to make up for earlier. His eyes crinkled but turned back to Tess as she spoke almost immediately. “Because I’ve seen your face before.”

“That’s impossible.” Stefan shook his head immediately in denial, before pausing, narrowing his eyes. “Unless...you mean you’ve met Silas.”

“How much do you know about Silas?” Tessa stood slowly, and Stefan shifted, shrugging.

“Apart from the fact that he’s a bloodthirsty immortal who’s killed more people than I can count? Lots. And that was _before_ he stole my identity, locked me up in a safe, and dropped me in the middle of a quarry.” His green eyes hardened as his voice lost its blasé tone. “But all that matters is the only reason I didn’t turn my humanity switch off, was the fact that I wanted to be myself when I killed him.”

Tessa moved closer to them, staring intensely at the way Stefan shifted more to situate her safely behind him. “Strong words.”

Stefan smiled grimly. “He’s a monster. I’m going after him, and I’m taking Lis with me.” Taking Annalise’s arm, he moved them backwards towards the door.

“Except you’ll burn to death in the sun without your daylight ring, and dear _Lis_ would be powerless to help you.” Tessa shook her head, finally looking to the side almost nostalgically. “Silas wasn’t always a monster.”

Stefan turned back, hesitantly interested as she continued. “He used to be a simple man in love with a simple girl, she thought he was her soulmate. Her one-true love. So naïve; she had built up a life for them in her mind because she didn’t know any better. You know how that goes. They thought their love would last forever.”

Annalise rolled her eyes, sighing. Great, why not let this recently reincarnated and insanely powerful witch monologue instead of finding a way out?

Stefan stepped closer curiously. “How do you know all this?” Yay, another great question. Stefan was on fire today. Tess smiled sadly. “Because I was there, in his arms.”

“You’re Qetsiyah.” Comprehension filled Stefan’s eyes, and he looked at Annalise for confirmation with a furrowed brow - she nodded at him tiredly.

Tessa raised her eyebrows in shock. “So, you do know your history.” Her eyes flicked to Annalise too. “I’m sure you had no small part in this.” Annalise shrugged at her, raising her eyebrows in challenge.

“Yeah, yeah we know about you.” Stefan just nodded to himself, looking much more wary. “Silas betrayed you, took the cure for him and his mistress, Amara.” Tessa’s prior serene expression had taken on a severe scowl, only twisting more as Stefan’s painfully simplified spark notes of the whole ordeal progressed. “You, like any other sane, rational and well-adjusted woman, killed his lover, _and_ his best friend, and trapped him in a tomb with the cure for two thousand years after creating a supernatural limbo to trap his soul.”

Tessa’s anger peaked, causing the fireplace beside her to burst into vicious blue flames.

Annalise shot her a considering look, remembering the amount of Expression she had once expelled herself in order to turn a fireplace into a white geyser of heat some time ago. Suddenly, she found it easier to believe that Qetsiyah and Gaia had been near equals in a whole other life.

Tessa breathed deeply, visibly forcing her pleasant countenance to return as she waved her hand to return the fire back to its comforting crackle. Casually, she approached them once more, though Annalise swallowed drily at the fire that glinted dangerously in Tessa’s flinty gaze. “Fine, sure I’m the raging bitch whose obsession with vengeance created a whole new dimension of suffering in the Afterlife, despite the fact that it was Amara and Silas who first committed the sin - whose choices led to a ripple effect of all your misfortunes today. Of course, the self-righteous, perfect Caelesti would never write a flattering story about me, she never did like me. Always warned her sister away from our friendship.”

Lis’ studying gaze caught Tessa’s slight falter at the end of her bitter explanation, and as her narrowed eyes met the witch’s, Qetsiyah appeared to relent slightly, raising her arm at Annalise.

Lis felt the pressure in her throat release. Coughing to clear her throat, she looked towards the witch sarcastically. “I wonder why.” Annalise commented blithely before choosing to move on instead of provoking the two millennia old witch further. “Okay, now that you’ve had your fun in your grand reveal to Stefan, why don’t you tell me how you escaped the Other Side?”

Tessa smirked, sitting on the same cot that Stefan had just woken from, adjusting in her seat comfortably. “When you and the Bennett witch lowered the veil, I saw an opportunity to make myself a living, breathing mortal, and I thought _why not?_ My hunters have failed in their task to kill Silas, so I thought it was time to handle things in person.”

“But _how?”_ Annalise crossed her arms. Tessa’s non-answers were getting on her nerves.

Qetsiyah just smirked wider. “Oh, it _burns_ you doesn't it, my little γλυκιά μου? To have spent so long searching for answers, solutions, to only have your betters best you.”

Annalise scowled, moving to resort to violence and smash that pretty face in before Stefan grabbed her arm, gently holding her back.

“So, you’re on our side right? You want Silas dead?”

Qetsiyah only passed him a secretive smile before standing and placing a small pot over her fire. She then dropped what appeared to be a sliver bracelet from her wrist into the pot. She turned, smirking to herself.

“Yes. I want him dead.” Her eyes flicked to Lis for the briefest moment before returning to Stefan. “Silas stole your daylight ring. You’re going to need a new one. When this is ready, I need your help to take down Silas. Once and for all.”

All Lis and Stefan could do, was exchange a wary glance.

-

Afternoon sun filtered coldly through the foliage and into the small room as Stefan and Annalise had reluctantly relaxed in the small cabin in the woods, watching Tessa hover over the fire while muttering low spells under her breath. She had been that way for the last twenty minutes.

Annalise was pouting as she leaned against a peeling wall, boredly watching a dry leaf float in through the open window following a heavy gust of wind. Her eyes trailed after it lazily as it fell past her head, and in a burst of immaturity - she concentrated a gust of wind in her hand, sending the leaf directly into Stefan’s face.

He spluttered, swatting the leaf from his face, sending her an exhausted look, before it sharpened, flicking to her hand, then her confused gaze at his sudden attentiveness. She frowned back at him as he looked significantly towards the leaf again, his intense look willing her to understand.

Annalise straightened slowly in confusion, so as not to bring the distracted witch’s attention to them. Stefan sent another pointed glare towards her hand.

Annalise didn’t understand, all she had done was simply annoyed him by... _holy shit,_ using her _magic._ She couldn’t hold her grin down as she reached for her magic and found it responsive and comforting - not to her normal extent but still reaching it. The lobelia must nearly all burned out of her system - Gloria’s prolonged use of it must have lessened the effect of the herb on her - she must’ve built up some sort of tolerance.

Annalise quickly fixed her excited look towards Stefan into a bored, flat stare as Qetsiyah looked over once more, before looking back down into the bubbling pot. Nodding to himself, Stefan rose to join the witch at the fireplace, he gestured to the door over her shoulder. Annalise frowned, catching his eye and shaking her head firmly.

No way was she leaving him behind in this crazy’s clutches while he chose to distract her. They both needed to leave this place far behind.

Tessa looked up at Stefan’s sudden presence at her side curiously. “Hovering actually slows down the process, you know?”

Stefan cleared his throat awkwardly, stepping away slightly. “Ah, got it. So uh, what’s your plan? Take the cure and shove it down Silas’ throat? Kill him?”

Tessa shook her head, standing up slowly. “You’re skipping ahead. We don’t stand a chance against Silas with his mental powers.”

Annalise frowned, leaning forwards interestedly. “You took him down before though. What’s stopping you from using the same spell?”

Qetsiyah shook her head. “That was a long time ago, before he could compel masses; two thousand years of consuming dribbles of blood from thousands of people...it’s allowed him to hone his skills. It prepared him to escape the tomb I put him in.”

“Oh, how lovely. That would make for a great motivational poster. I can just see it. Overcome Adversity written in bold under a picture of a mummified body trapped in a cave. What an inspiration.” Annalise deadpanned, exchanging an amused look with Stefan. “Could use a kitten in there too. Kitten posters are cute.”

Tessa narrowed her eyes at Lis’s judgemental tone. “I offered him the cure immediately, even after he had betrayed me - all he chose to focus on was the fact that his precious Amara had met her pitiful end.”

Stefan lifted a single brow. “ _That’s_ what you call a second chance?”

Tessa shrugged. “I’m a complicated person, but Silas remains a simple man. I created the Other Side as a supernatural barrier between Silas and the peaceful afterlife he craved. Then I dropped him in that tomb with the cure, thinking that eventually he would take it and kill himself to be with Amara, just so he could realize that he was caught with me for all eternity.”

Stefan’s brow remained raised. “How’s that working out for you?”

Tessa’s expression soured. “He’s been a little stubborn, especially since Gaia-” Her eyes flicked to Annalise’s, and for the briefest moment, Lis was sure she’d glimpsed utter loss in the woman’s gaze before it flicked back to Stefan, clearing her throat. “Especially since Gaia lost her life saving his sorry one.”

Annalise stood too, finally having concentrated on the smell of woodland flowers rising from the small cauldron set on the fireplace, walking to Stefan’s side. She shot her fellow captor a warning glance. “Hey, Tessa, this is kinda awkward but uh…I think you got your recipe wrong. Daylight rings don’t need wildflowers.”

Stefan stiffened next to her as Tessa’s smile turned malicious. “Have you not been listening to me? Did you really think I’d give you the one thing you’d need to walk out of here?” Her unhinged laughter rang brightly as the pair exchanged a terrified glance. Annalise’s hand inched towards Stefan’s slightly, despite the fact that she wasn’t sure if she had enough juice just yet to teleport one person, let alone two. Qetsiyah’s wild eyes tracked her movement, and all of a sudden, Annalise and Stefan found themselves thrown hard against opposite walls as Tessa continued monologuing. “I have trust issues, I’m controlling, and paranoid, and a little bit crazy. But as you can see, it’s working out _just fine_.”

She waved her arm once more, and Annalise found herself falling into a familiar darkness.

-

When she came to, she found herself weakened once more - tied on the ground to the same post she was tied to before. Only this time, in front of her, all the furniture was pushed to the side - allowing what looked like a huge floral wreath to occupy the empty space on the ground, with Stefan sitting bound on a chair in its centre. He looked towards her with a grimace as she blinked at him tiredly.

“You should’ve left when you had the chance, Lis.”

“And faced Damon’s wrath at leaving his little brother alone with a psycho witch? I don’t think so.” Annalise let out a groan as she shifted, feeling a sting on her chest, but pushing it to the back of her mind. She exchanged a small smirk with Stefan before Lis shot him a questioning look. “Speaking of, where is the psycho?”

Stefan shrugged. “She went out. Something about needing more flowers.”

Annalise scowled, twisting her wrists to manoeuvre them out of their binds. “Yup. Makes sense. You’d think she’s out looking for another flower shop to rob.” She nodded her head at the flower wreath even as dread filled her. She knew what this was used for, and predictably, this wasn’t going to end well.

Stefan huffed, before suddenly motioning her to be quiet. “I hear footsteps.”

Annalise braced, ready to level a murderous glare at the person opening the door annoyingly slowly - but was faintly surprised to see Damon there instead. His sharp gaze swept the room even as his smirk widened. “Oh, Peach, you’re here. Gave us a bit of a scare with your abandoned phone. Was worried I’d have to pay your psychopathic best friend a visit.” Annalise smirked, rolling her eyes as he moved to untie her binds from behind her. “You hurt? I smell blood. The delicious kind.”

Lis shot him a surprised look, then a shrug. “I must've hurt something when I hit the wall with my head,” She dismissed his worried look. “I’m already probably healed. Don’t worry about it.”

Damon nodded at her before shooting Stefan a teasing smirk. “Brother. You couldn’t call?”

“Sorry, I was a bit tied up.” Stefan deadpanned.

Damon helped Annalise to her feet as he nudged at the flower wreath surrounding Stefan curiously. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Silas’ crazy ex is back. She wants to kill him, using Stefan’s help.” Annalise sighed, stretching out her sore limbs. Damon narrowed his gaze in confusion as he moved to untie Stefan.

“Qetsi-whatever?”

He nodded and went to reply, but a feminine voice called out from behind them from the front door. “It’s Qet _-siyah”_

She intoned looking unimpressed as she held a bunch of pretty flowers in her hands. Damon stiffened next to her as they both shifted to stand in front of Stefan protectively. Tessa sighed, casually strolling in and placing the flowers on the kitchen counter. “It’s why I want to change it to Tessa. Nice, simple and modern. I see you’ve freed the useless one. She's good for nothing now." Annalise shifted uncomfortably as Tessa continued. “You won’t be able to free him though. Those vines won’t release him until I get what I want.”

“So, the rumours are true. You are a ray of sunshine." Damon straightened; his smirk still fakely fixed on his face. "Question - why is Stefan wearing your compost pile?”

Annalise rubbed her forehead tiredly. “It’s an old-fashioned linking circle, Damon - in the ancient times a wreath made of vines, wildflowers and their roots were symbolic of the connection that witches had to magic, and the connection that magic had to the earth.”

Tessa passed her a surprised look. “Yes, the girl is right.” She turned to Damon. “This will link Silas to Stefan, allowing me to cast a spell on Stefan’s mind to neutralise Silas’ mental powers. Once he’s weakened, I will force him to take the cure.”

“Well, that’s a great idea, force the cure down his throat.” Damon chuckled sarcastically. “The cure is gone, done. It’s ingested.”

“Katherine, you mean?” Tessa raised an unsurprised eyebrow. “I’m aware of her condition. She was supposed to be with you.”

“Wait, Katherine took the cure?” Stefan spoke up sounding surprised from his chair.

Damon patted his shoulder distractedly. “We have a lot to catch you up on, Stefan.” His eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. What do you mean ‘supposed to be with me’? Did you plant those dreams? What is it, some kind of witch party trick?”

Tessa didn’t answer, instead bringing a bowl to Stefan’s side. “So, where is she?”

Damon still looked at her incredulously. “We ran into a little snag.”

Unworried, Tessa placed her hand over the bowl and shut her eyes. “Then I’ll get started without her.” She then proceeded to chant in ancient Greek over the bowl - Annalise couldn’t understand what she was saying exactly, but her magic had returned enough to be able to feel the magic rise from the bowl.

She sent a panicked look to Damon and he understood, immediately setting about fiddling with Stefan’s ropes again. “Okay, well, thanks for the hospitality, but we really should get going if we want to beat traffic.”

Stefan nodded earnestly, trying to back Damon up. “Yup, yup he’s right.”

Annalise stepped closer so she was in between Qetsiyah and the two brothers, nodding too. “Yeah, rush hour. Phew, so chock-full you wouldn’t believe it.”

Qetsiyah didn’t bother looking up from her spell. “You know you probably don’t want to get on my bad side, right?”

“You realise you’re not the only one with a bad side, right?” Damon straightened at the obvious threat, clearly ready to fight something.

“Aren’t you brave?” Qetsiyah finally looked up, rolling her eyes. “Without Silas’ mental powers, he’s an immortal nobody. We can defeat him. Isn’t that what you want?”

Annalise shook her head resolutely at Stefan as she saw his gaze turn contemplative. He exchanged a look with Damon - and she could tell that the brothers knew it was the best chance they’d got at defeating Silas. Hell, even Lis knew.

But that didn’t mean shit. It was only the latest bad decision in a series of bad decisions.

Stefan’s gaze hardened before turning back to Tessa. “Fine, do it, all right? Just get it over with.”

Damon and Annalise exchanged a hesitant glance as they watched Tessa dip her fingertips into the bowl of molten silver with a triumphant smile, then walk behind Stefan to place them directly on his temple, still chanting. Stefan gasped, his eyes wide in pain, before letting out a hurt yell.

Annalise looked away in discomfort at the sounds of pain wrenching from Stefan’s throat before looking back as the flower wreath at their feet began to ignite and burst into flame. Stefan now had blood dripping from his eyes, and Annalise flinched, feeling phantom pains from the medallion.

No, she reminded herself. Kol had hidden it. It wouldn’t hurt her anymore. 

Damon had moved closer to the still chanting witch, watching Stefan in concern.

“What are you doing to my brother?”

Tessa’s eyes opened but didn’t retract her hands from his temples as she smiled benignly. “I’m frying Silas’ brain. No one said it’d be pretty.”

Annalise watched in concern as Stefan’s head finally lolled to the side, unconscious. Damon stepped in immediately. “All right, we’re done here. It worked.” He knelt in front of his younger brother, holding Stefan’s head in his hands gently, tapping it. “Stef? Stefan!” He turned to glare at Qetsiyah casually washing her hands at the kitchen sink. “Whatever you did to him, undo it.”

Tessa smirked. “Relax. I just burned through his conscious mind. He’ll wake...eventually. You sure you want to take him home? You and Elena were doing so well without your guilt getting in the way.”

Annalise walked over behind Stefan, placing her hands gently on his head while letting Damon manoeuvre around her to free Stefan from the now-compliant binds. Shit - Stefan’s mind was _wrecked._ She felt her magic already trickling back, so she readied to use it.

Lis listened with one ear to Damon and Tessa’s conversation as she started subtly healing Stefan.

Tessa sounded…tortured. “Century after century, I watched versions of Stefan and Elena find each other, like magnets, always the same story - conquering all, falling in love. Getting _their_ happy ever after. You didn’t think your brother was Silas’ first shadow, did you? Destiny has been trying to get the doppelgangers together forever.”

Damon frowned slightly. Her words were clearly getting to him. “Look here, Miss Crazy, why don’t we just dial down the destiny talk a notch, okay?”

“You don’t want to hear it, but the universe is working against you.”

“If you’re trying to downplay your reputation of being a psychopath, you might not want to say you’re the spokesperson for the universe.”

Tessa continued, smiling unworriedly. “You and I, we’re the same, Damon...the obstacle standing between two fates. Silas had his one true love, and Stefan has Elena.”

“So, what are you suggesting?” Damon threw a large vine on to the floor in what seemed like restrained frustration. “I leave him here with you while I run off and live happily ever after with Elena?”

Annalise wished she could disappear from this conversation which she felt she had no right overhearing, but instead, she continued to heal Stefan, hoping that Qetsiyah was too distracted to notice her trying to make herself as small as possible behind Stefan’s chair.

Tessa smiled at Damon. “I’d keep him safe.”

Damon scrunched his nose in distaste. “You have a bad track record with men.”

“I want to keep him safe.” Tessa started, sounding earnest. “Now he’s linked to Silas, Silas can’t mess with our heads, and as long as Stefan’s in the way, you will _never_ be with Elena. Take it from a woman who’s had a front row seat for two thousand years.”

Annalise watched uncomfortably as Damon stepped closer to Tessa, looking as if he were actually considering the idea. “No one would have to know?”

Tessa smiled in agreement. “No one has to know. I could even make sure _Lis_ stays silent.”

Damon paused, before looking back at Stefan, then at Annalise who was staring at him in disbelief. His lip tilted upwards subtly to reassure her.

Oh. Okay, this was a gamble. That made her feel marginally better.

She collected her magic and braced herself as Damon turned back around to Tessa.

“Or you could go back to hell.”

He lunged at the witch, grabbing her throat, but Tessa managed to chant quickly, dropping Damon to his knees, groaning in pain, then falling to the floor. Annalise scowled, feeling her anger rise, and then feeling her magic click into place and respond in a way that it had never done before.

It released in a burst - passing over the Salvatore brothers’ unconscious bodies harmlessly but sending Qetsiayah hurtling back to smash against the front door, hard. The witch fell to the floor, scowling.

“How?”

Annalise shrugged, feeling a sudden discomfort in her chest as she moved closer slowly. “I was imprisoned for a while, seems I built up a tolerance for lobelia. Handy, isn’t it?” She warily watched Tessa climb to her feet. “Why are you doing this?”

Tessa laughed incredulously. “Have you not been paying attention all afternoon, child?”

“No, I have.” Annalise frowned. “And that’s why it doesn’t make sense.” Tessa’s smile dropped as Annalise stepped closer threateningly. “You did all this, because a man tricked you? Cheated on you? Sure, that sucks, but I honestly don’t give shit. I just have _one_ question.” Annalise flicked her hand back towards the fireplace, making it flare a bright white, comparable to Tessa’s own blue. “How the fuck did you get out of the Other Side?”

Tessa had frozen as Lis neared, looking between the fire and Annalise; and strangely, Lis was almost confident that Qetsiyah’s eyes had taken on a sad shimmer. “You do look a lot like her, you know? You have her eyes.” She went to leave but turned back hesitantly. “Silas’ betrayal opened my eyes to someone who comforted me and stayed by my side even when I felt as though the world as I knew it was ending. But then, Silas took her away from me too. She chose _him._ Like I didn’t even matter.” Tessa hissed hatefully. “He deserves _everything_ that’s coming to him.”

Annalise froze, brow furrowing in confusion. “Are you talking about Gaia? About her sacrifice?”

“Now you understand.” Qetsiyah’s lips curled hatefully as she spat. “That’s why I need to make him _pay_.”

-

Putting aside the revelation Qetsiyah had dropped on her before promptly disappearing, Annalise focused on trying to heal the still unconscious Stefan through her tremulous thoughts. Her hands shook strangely at his temples, feeling her magic respond to her will in an almost excitably unstable manner. No matter how much easier using her magic had suddenly become, however, a discomfort grew deep within her chest.

She was probably nervous and confused, and reaching a conclusion she didn’t want to admit. If Qetsiyah had sensed Lis and Bonnie channel her magic to lower the veil and just…decided to cross over, did that mean she had hijacked Bonnie’s spell to get Jeremy back? Did Bonnie run out of magic because she tried to bring back two people instead of just one?

Was Qetsiyah then inadvertently the cause of Bonnie’s death?

“What’s on your mind, Peach?” Damon leaned against the table, watching her carefully. Lis had managed to revive him immediately after Tessa had left, and then promptly moved on to heal his brother next as the evening sky gradually darkened. He had shot her a grateful smile before choosing her progress, or lack thereof, worriedly from the side. “Did the woman scorned get to you too?”

“No, I just…” Annalise faltered, feeling the discomfort in her chest grow. He didn’t know Bonnie was dead. “I think I hate her.”

Damon’s brow raised, passing her a mocking smirk. “Didn’t know you had it you.” His eyes grew flinty as he looked at his unconscious brother. “But I certainly agree, Peach.”

A familiar vampire signature flared brightly in her periphery, approaching fast, and Annalise moved her eyes to the front door of the cabin casually just as Elena rushed through, eyes immediately zeroing in on the unconscious Stefan’s head in Lis’s hands.

Elena froze, eyes narrowing suspiciously, before passing Damon a quick glance. Annalise watched him straighten, then pass Elena a subtle nod of reassurance. Seems like the young girl still didn’t trust her, and it showed in her hesitant smile as she turned back to Annalise.

“Uh, hi, Lissie. Is he…okay?”

“Hi, Elena.” Annalise stared at her for a moment, a small part of her enjoying watching the girl squirm under her hard stare, before nodding. “Stefan’s gonna be alright. The witch fried his brain, and I’m just healing him. But she did say she burned through his conscious mind. There is a high chance he may have short term retrograde amnesia. Give him his space, as needed. You can’t force it.”

“Sure, Lissie. Thanks.” Elena tucked her hair uncomfortably behind her ear.

Annalise lingered in the cottage still smelling bitterly of lobelia while Damon and Elena had carried Stefan to the car. It had felt like something big had happened here, and now something heavy sat upon her shoulders. The air held a charge – one that made her discomfort worsen.

Actually, now that she paid more attention to it…Lis realised that along with the growing pressure building in her chest, there was a sting accompanying it. Wincing, she raised a hand to her chest, only to freeze when her fingers came across a dampness.

Looking more closely at her dark shirt, she realised a stain had browned it – panicked, she pulled at the loose collar of her tee, feeling the air rush out of her lungs in a big whoosh.

As she caught sight of herself in the reflection of the cabin window – flames from the fireplace illuminating her in a warm light, she felt her stomach turn. There on her sternum sat a symbol looking almost tattooed into her skin – an upside-down triangle the size of her palm, with a horizontal line cutting through its lower half.

Her magic had healed it already, and it sat slightly raised on her dark skin. 

Turning to the side, she promptly hurled.

-

The woods felt almost connected to her as she walked slowly down the path illuminated by the low light of the crescent moon. Sure, she had felt close to nature her entire life, even felt at one with it if she opened her mind and self to the magic around her but now…that feeling was constant. Annalise felt almost bombarded with new sensations as she stepped on the damp dirt; her eyes flicked to the treetops at the ruffled flutter of birds taking flight, then to the fern brushing her arm. The magic felt _alive_ around her and though her chest ached stiffly, she found herself distracted, and…afraid.

What on Earth had happened to her?

She found herself at the end of the dirt path. The headlights of the car illuminated Damon and Elena as they talked – Lis noticed Stefan already situated comfortably in the back seat. As she stepped closer, drawing the attention of the two vampires, Annalise managed a shaky grin, trying to ignore how their magic now emanated off them in distracting waves.

“You waited?”

Damon shot her a quick smirk as he walked to her, beckoning her around to the back of the car as Elena settled climbed in after shooting her another superficial smile.

Damon followed her eyeline, before intoning lowly. “It’s not- Just give her some time.”

“To what?” Lis rolled her eyes, crossing her arms defensively. “Figure out what vague reason she’s angry at me today for?” Damon looked away awkwardly as Lis just sighed tiredly. “Look, I don’t care anymore. I’ve tried my best. It’s not my fault if that isn’t enough for her.”

Damon clicked his tongue, bouncing on the balls of his feet uncomfortably. “I’ll uh…let her know.”

She passed him a brief flat smile. He did the same, passing her heavy handbag and phone. She took it gratefully. “Anyway…you scared us half to death there, Peach. Didn’t want to risk getting dismembered there while breaking the news to your friends. There are a couple missed calls on there from them. Figured me answering wasn’t going to put them at ease. You should call them; else we’d have an Original infestation all over again.”

“Will do, Damon.” Annalise grinned at him in appreciation, glad that he’d left the car’s engine running so this conversation could be a bit more private. “And don’t worry, Stefan’s gonna have trouble remembering stuff for a short while – but uh…be patient. He should be fine.” Damon nodded with a grateful smirk eyes crinkling.

"Well, anyway. Thanks for the assist today.” He went to walk past her, but Annalise grabbed his arm gently, making him pause. 

“Hey, I heard what Tessa said, obviously,” Damon rolled his eyes, getting ready to defend himself sarcastically, but Lis didn’t let him get a word in, speaking over his attempt to make light of it.

“Tessa was being stupid. I’m sure the universe has better things to do than making two people fall in love. Fate is just a result of all your decisions. You aren’t her and this isn’t a repeat of history. She was trying to get into your head.” Annalise sighed, letting his arm drop back to his side as she spoke gently. “Don’t let some bitter old bitch ruin this for you. Only you can ruin this by letting your doubts affect what you have. Yeah? Don’t be stupid.”

“Yeah, Peach. Thanks.” Damon smirked at her fully, reaching to ruffle her hair. She shot him an agitated look, ready to take back all the nice things she said to him as he chuckled.

“You good to head back to ours? I’d offer you a seat but Stefan’s being rude; but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind just taking up one seat though.”

“No, no.” Annalise shook her head, grinning politely. “I was gonna go myself anyway – I just have some things to think about.” Her hand raised to her chest subconsciously.

Damon gave her one last smirk with a thankful nod, walking away with a casual good night thrown back at her.

Clearing her throat, she teleported to the Salvatore Boarding House and immediately going to research online for blood sigils.

Rest didn’t come easily that night, even as she sat on the bed, papers spread out around her whilst bathing in the calming moonlight.

The distant cawing of a raven did nothing to ease her nerves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's Qetsiyah's introduction in my story - how do you like her? Let me know you thoughts!


	40. Ultimatum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a long chapter because I wasn't too happy with the last two - and I felt bad for the delay, again! Uni's hectic, so I'm going to try my best to keep within the week, but please forgive me if I upload a bit late. 
> 
> Warning - Canon-typical violence, swearing; there is a funeral in this chapter, and dark depressive thoughts as a result.  
> Side note: You might have noticed that I also have added a F/F tag for a relationship that I alluded to in the last chapter. I did want to point out however that this series remains a KolxOC fic.  
> Enjoy!! I had fun with this one :)

“I have enough on my mind as it is, Lissie; you disappearing in the middle of the night and not answering our calls doesn’t help at all. I distinctly remember telling you to let me know when you decide to leave.”

“And I did, Nik.” Annalise couldn’t help the fond smile that grew on her lips even as Nik berated her – yesterday had fallen far from good, but knowing she now had people that worried after her safety seemed almost too good to be true. “I told Hayley to tell you. You _are_ the one who made me promise that I wouldn’t turn up in the French Quarter that night. Plus, it's not as if I didn't text you.”

“Right you are.” She heard him sigh before his tone took on a more curious note. “So, what happened in dear old Mystic Falls?”

“Same screwed up shit as usual. Promise not to freak out?” Annalise ran a stressed hand through her hair as she adjusted herself on the sofa overlooking the serene body of water before her. She had made herself at home in the Gilbert Lake House once more as she’d sunk deeper into a panic spiral after the restless night before. Papers built in piles around her now seemed commonplace – books were open, scattered around her neatly, and she found her legal pad was always within reach, recently filled with doodles of the new sigil on her breastbone.

So far her search had been fruitless. There seemed to be no record of the magical brand anywhere.

Nik’s voice sounded more worried than before. “Strangely that warning does nothing to ease my mind.”

“Careful Nik you almost sound like you care~” Annalise’s attempt to make light of the situation was cut short by his stern warning.

“Lissie.”

“Fine.” Her voice grew heavier as she absentmindedly rubbed at her chest out of habit. “I was kidnapped by Qetsiyah - who is now alive, by the way - and uh…sidenote, I think she had a thing for Gaia? I don’t really know – she was very vague and I didn’t really have time to ask her twenty questions.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, not really.” She ignored the rising feeling of guilt building in her throat – it’s not as if she was lying…she _was_ fine _._ Better than fine, actually; her magic could almost be described as _eager,_ evidenced in the way her coffee had burst into flames when she’d tried to magically reheat it this morning _._ But Nik had enough on his plate protecting his child as it was – she could take care of this herself.

He didn’t need to worry about her.

Lis’ realised that she’d trailed off into a suspicious silence and scrambled to fill it. “But she hurt Stefan though. Fried his brain to get rid of Silas’s psychic powers; and now Stefan remembers shit-all.” His condition hadn't improved, going by Damon’s text this morning – Annalise rubbed at her eyes tiredly as she ventured to move on. “What about you? Ten missed calls is a bit steep considering I was technically only missing for a couple hours.”

Nik shifted down the line, speaking with an unnatural weight to his voice. “Hayley was attacked.” Annalise straightened worriedly, but Nik was quick to continue, calming her fears. “She’s fine, resting. The witches took her out to the bayou in the guise of a check-up - she escaped with some unexpected help from some wolves, and her unborn child. Turns out having the child’s blood in her system healed her of her injuries.”

“Thank goodness.” Annalise relaxed once more in relief. “I told her not to trust the witches, not after Sabine saw that vision of hers. I thought I told her to tell you.”

“She did.” His tone turned bitter. “Unfortunately, she’s stubborn, and I’m afraid the witches are our allies in this war I plan on waging against Marcel. We don’t have the luxury to stop working with allies I don’t trust, when that list contains, well...everyone.”

Lis huffed in agreement. “Fair point. Just watch your back, yeah?” At his affirmation, she continued. “Any more news on Elijah?”

“Rebekah said he made contact, whatever that means. I made contact with Davina too - she's nothing more than a powerful _little_ witch.” The menacing edge to his tone had Annalise feeling borderline concerned for the young witch.

“Don’t tell me you’re terrorising the kid, Nik.”

“Terrorising?” There was a sinister chuckle. “No. I prefer to think of it as broadening her horizons. All I did was offer my assistance and point out the fact that Marcel was just using her.”

Annalise wearily shut her eyes in frustration. “Nik, please. She’s just a child.”

“Oh, you don’t need to be my voice of reason anymore, love.” She heard a crowd that Nik was passing laugh loudly and cheer. Forlornly, Lis realised she missed the energy of that vibrant but calming city. “I've found a new confidant - Camille, a very well-read psychology student turned bartender. Marcel’s infatuated with her, and I intend to use that against him.”

“Yeah, I met her.” Camille – the bartender she’d talked to was the same one Marcel was apparently infatuated with going by Rebekah’s complaints disguising her very obvious jealousy. She’d been well-meaning, and nice, as far as first impressions went, and it seemed Nik was also getting close to her. Lis felt her lips lift in a teasing manner. “Well, if the closest thing to therapy you’re getting is unloading your shit on to an unsuspecting psychology student, I’m not against it.” Lis reached for her coffee on the table next to her before she added carefully. “Just make sure she isn’t another casualty, Nik. It feels like she’s a good one.”

“I’ll do my best, Lissie.” His reply was almost disapproving. Her concerns clearly annoyed him, especially when he was trying to wage a private war – but she appreciated him trying anyway. Something about the smile in his voice when Nik had brought Camille up had given Lis hope.

Annalise felt as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders.

“Well, stay safe then, Nik. Give my love to Beks and Hayley?”

“You do ask me to do the most detestable things.” The smile in Nik’s voice was back before it left abruptly. “Same applies to you, Lissie. Qetsiyah is a formidable enemy – I believe you should come to New Orleans.”

“I thought you didn’t want me anywhere near Marcel?”

“Well.” Nik paused. “That was before you had a witch two millennia old kidnap you. You may be safer here with us.”

“You don’t think I can take care of her?" Annalise felt her stomach sink. "Do you think my threats are empty here too? That I won't be able to do what's necessary to keep everyone safe?"

“I don’t doubt your capability to fight.” Nik sounded as though he was walking on eggshells, making her bite her cheek in bitter anger. “But I do doubt your capability to take a life.”

He didn’t believe in her. That hurt.

“You shouldn’t.” Annalise tried and failed to keep the bite out of her tone. “After all, I learned from the best, didn’t I?”

Not allowing for a reply, she ended the conversation abruptly, setting her phone firmly on the table.

Her eyes wandered to the research spread around her. Tears pricked her eyes as doubt creeped in. Of course Nik was right. Sure, she felt the _need,_ the sense of responsibility to _do_ something to get rid of both Silas and Qetsiyah, but she didn’t have a clue as to where to start.

It was all useless, wasn’t it?

Three months down the drain, and all Qetsiyah had to do was _step_ through when they’d used her blood. 

Her anger flared, and all at once, all her papers burst into white flames with a _whoosh_ , leaving no trace behind. All _fucking_ useless. Hayley had been _kidnapped,_ and what had Lis been doing? _Also_ chilling in captivity.

Again.

Wow.

Annalise moved to shut her open laptop in anger before she paused, squinting contemplatively as her eyes caught on the open browser. It was her email, open to a research article from her online community - one offered to her anonymously after she’d been asking around online for a month or so, still open on her screen. It was a scanned copy of a clearly crumbling page - she hadn’t wanted to entertain the thought of the spell, the theory – it was why she hadn’t printed it. But now…

This was sacrificial magic. Obviously. But instead of sacrificing herself...as magic called for equivalent exchange, _a life for a life..._ homicide was still on the table.

She hadn’t even meant to leave the tab open – she’d barely given it a thought filled with disgust, but now she found herself hesitating. She could show Nik that she wasn’t as weak and useless as he clearly thought she was.

Annalise felt chills up her arm as read the spell more closely. It called for a blood sacrifice in light of a waning moon. Sure the fundamental thought connected to murder was BAD but...this wasn’t wrong...was it? Killing Qetsiyah, to bring Bonnie back? Since she most likely _had_ stolen the witch’s magic and inadvertently caused Bonnie’s death?

It was…fair – wasn’t it?

With an audible _snap,_ her laptop shut of its own accord. Sensing a presence behind her, she whipped around guiltily.

“Bonnie says no.” Jeremy tiredly leant against the wall behind her, eyes unnaturally sharp in judgement before flicking over her shoulder. Annalise looked back to the empty air behind her; the space that Jeremy’s eyes travelled to, feeling the need to justify her hesitation.

“Bon, she _stole_ your magic, she’s on this revenge trip and she hurt Stefan, did something to _m_...I-” Her voice cut off as her fingers rubbed at her chest, feeling ashamed of the dark imprint now scarring her, much like how the death magic of the Other Side had marred her fingertips. Dark magic had stained her, had it also stained her mind?

She wasn’t dark. She wasn’t…was she?

Jeremy sighed on seeing the internal struggle build up on her pale face, straightening to make his way to the kitchen sink to pour himself a glass of water casually. “She asked how New Orleans was.”

Annalise felt the fight drain from her as her shoulders drooped, but she mustered a smile in what she hoped was Bonnie’s direction. She could do with a change of topic. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ve always wanted to go there. It was great. Really great. And oh, I found something.”

Lis reached for her tote bag in remembrance, pulling the heavy black tome decorated with the raised insignia of a T within a black eye, and set it down heavily on the coffee table as Jeremy curiously sat opposite her.

“What’s that?”

“This, Jeremy, is a necromancy tome.” She flipped to the page where she'd marked with colourful tags and larger post-its filled with notes. “This has information about worlds on other planes, a different perspective of the Other Side. It talks about the afterlife as a transfer of energy. Dying draws your energy from one plane to another - and all you need to do, is simply in theory, find enough of _this_ plane’s energy - life magic - over there, to travel over here. And a weakness in the wall separating the two planes would also help.”

Jeremy frowned. “She wants to know where she can find this _life_ magic.”

“That’s just it, Bon.” Annalise dropped her head tiredly into her hands. “I have no clue. All this is, is another dead end. I’m sorry.”

Jeremy sat back in clear disappointment, mouth stretched into a thin line, but he offered her a small nod. “She says thanks, for trying.”

She nodded back, sitting back tiredly against the sofa, but she couldn’t stop her eyes wandering to her shut laptop.

Annalise couldn’t give up hope just yet.

-

Jeremy scowled as his phone buzzed on the coffee table for the millionth time, disrupting the afternoon lull filled by the birds chirping in the tall whispering trees outside, along with the low calming sound of small waves of the lake lapping gently against the shore.

Annalise raised an eyebrow in his direction. He rubbed his face tiredly.

“You know how I left earlier this morning?” Lis nodded silently in reply. “Well, Matt thinks he’s being possessed - that some Czech person put something in his head. He’s waking up with blanks in his memory, and he’s losing time. I thought it was the Gilbert ring, before he said that he couldn’t be mind-controlled by Silas because he already had someone in his head, or something.” Annalise frowned as Jeremy let his head fall back. “He wants Bonnie’s help. They all do. And all I do is keep lying to them.” His gaze flickered over to the other corner of the couch, and he scowled. “This isn’t right, Bonnie. They deserve to know.”

Annalise startled when her own phone buzzed. Exchanging a look of apprehension with Jeremy, she accepted the call, putting it on speaker.

“How’s Stefan?”

“Still no memories, and he’s starting to get insufferable. I’m gonna need you to come around and fix him. Pronto. Remind him he’s the hero of the story. Properly this time, pretty please?”

Annalise sat up wearily, putting her tome to the side as she sighed. “Damon, I told you. Memories are iffy - I healed his brain, physically, and that’s all I can do. All you need to do is hope that his memories come back intact, and not be devastated on the off chance they don’t.”

“Well, thanks but no thanks, you weren’t my first choice anyway. Here’s an alternative - help me track down Bonnie, and I’ll stop asking you for help - how does that sound? I’ve been told I’m annoying, I’ve no clue why, but I’m sure you wanna get rid of me.”

Annalise looked at Jeremy, then at the empty space he stared at. She shrugged helplessly at him when Damon prompted her again. “Peach?”

Jeremy’s face turned determined as he reached and grabbed her phone out of her hand. “Damon. I have something to tell you.”

“Jeremy?” Damon sounded confused. “What are you doing with girl wonder?”

“I need you to meet me at the Boarding house. And I need you to come alone.” Jeremy sighed, turning to the side as if avoiding someone. Annalise could only imagine Bonnie’s anger at Jeremy going against her wishes.

“And _I_ need you to be less vague and weird.” Damon retorted sarcastically.

“I know where Bonnie is.” Jeremy’s serious expression didn’t shift. He was really going to do this. “Get over to the house, and I’ll explain.”

Something in her wanted to reach out, to make him stop. Telling everyone about Bonnie’s death – her failure to prevent it…it felt strangely final, like she was out of time.

This shouldn’t have happened; Bonnie shouldn’t have died, Qetsiyah shouldn’t have returned and she shouldn’t have given the girl false hope for three months.

They deserved closure, everyone did – including Bonnie.

Annalise wordlessly held out her hand as Jeremy ended the call and passed her phone back. He gave her a determined nod, before charging out of the house single-mindedly.

She didn’t bother joining him. This moment felt immensely private, and Annalise wasn't sure if she could handle watching Jeremy break the news of Bonnie’s death, _her_ failure, to his friends.

Her eyes didn’t leave the ground as inhaled a shuddering breath. She hoped the girl was still here to hear her apology. “I’m sorry Bon. I really am.”

-

Her phone rang an hour later.

Annalise found herself dreading the call ahead of her – it would only further the guilt and helplessness that had swallowed her whole while she remained unmoved from her previous position, burrowed into the sofa.

She found herself answering on autopilot, however, letting the girl that had once held her in high regard speak. “Did you know?”

Lis’ words failed, got stuck in her throat as tears burned her guilty gaze directed towards the rafters. Elena continued, incensed. “Did you know that Bonnie was _dead?”_ Her voice splintered as a heavy sob broke through, and Annalise found herself wishing she could do the same. Just _cry_ instead of feeling the guilt burdening her shoulders _._

She’d had 3 months to mourn – Elena had known for mere hours.

Something in her wanted to scream, say that this wasn’t her fault, _but it was._ Annalise deserved this, every minute of this. A low shuddering exhale escaped her, but when she spoke, her voice remained surprisingly steady and dispassionate.

“I did.”

Elena was no stranger to loss – just like she was, but it never hurt any less. Nothing helped, though directing your anger at _anyone_ other than yourself did lessen the pain temporarily. Lis tried to keep reminding herself that fact as the girl’s voice grew further enraged at her apparent apathy. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, Lissie, you were supposed to keep my best friend _safe.”_

“I know.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own. Her heart felt heavy, and her sigil _burned_. “I’m sorry.”

“Your sorry doesn’t bring back my _best friend,_ Annalise.”

“I know.” 

She knew how Elena felt – knew because Elena had taken away her own friend months prior. She knew Elena wouldn’t forgive her completely, just as she never forgave Elena completely. Some petty part of her wanted to yell, scream that _this was how it felt to have someone you cared for be taken away from you_ , _how do you like that?!_ The crap she pulled being holier than thou had grown tiring and a dark part of her vindictively yelled that _Elena deserved to feel this hurt for taking him away._

But Bonnie didn’t deserve this. She didn’t.

When had everything gone so horribly wrong?

Her silence was answered by the dial tone that rang flat in accusation, and stiffly, she removed her phone from her ear. With another shuddering exhale, she teleported to the Wickery Bridge, overlooking the swift black river below.

Falling apart against the railing, her emotions overwhelmed her, and something inside her built gradually until _it hurt._ So much so, that she didn’t hear the river below her grow tumultuous, didn’t feel the first droplets of rain hit her skin as clouds collected above her, didn’t feel the biting cold wind howl through the shifting trees around her.

Annalise didn’t feel good. Her chest burned and something clogged up in her throat. Her breaths hiccupped through ragged gasps as she buried her head in her hands, _wishing_ that she was better. More.

She couldn’t save anyone, couldn’t help anyone. She should stop fooling herself into thinking she was _good._ Maybe her parents had the right idea. 

In fact, maybe she’d been judged right her entire life – she was a good for nothing useless witch; her coven had been right, her college had been right, Esther had been right.

She was finding it harder and harder to _give a damn_ because it hurt _so much._

It didn’t matter how much she tried to fix her mistakes; she’d allowed them to happen in the first place _._ These deaths were on her.

Annalise had tried to save the Gilberts when Kol died; been distracted selfishly, kissing her _crush_ when Bonnie had died – her mistakes and poor judgement were getting people _killed._

A chill ran up her spine as a lone thought reached the forefront of her mind.

_She was the problem._

“I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

Annalise grew rigid, straightening immediately with a glare pointed at the direction of the voice. It took her a moment to realise that the voice didn’t belong to Silas, as it wasn’t accompanied by the familiar and unmistakable magical energy of the immortal being. Her glare fell away slowly as Stefan approached her with both hands held up in surrender, an awkward smile on his face even as his normally meticulously styled hair lay plastered wetly against his brow creased in what looked like concern.

“Hi. I was just passing by. Apparently, this place holds a lot of my old memories. I think it holds a few of yours as well.”

Ah. He hadn’t recovered his memories yet. Annalise smiled tiredly, wiping at her damp cheeks and looking away, hoping to hide her red-rimmed eyes as she cleared her clogged throat. “What gave it away?”

Stefan shot her a comforting smile as he moved closer. “You mean apart from your loud sobbing?” He winced, looking up, remarking casually. “The weather.”

Annalise’s attention drew to the rain that had started pelting down, attacking the earth in a vicious manner. Large rivulets of storm water had begun to run along the length of the bridge to empty into the gutter near her feet; her sneakers were soaked, and her toes had numbed in the damp cold. Her hair stuck wetly to her face as chilly winds blew past in a vindictive frenzy, howling through the woods in an almost human manner.

The weather grew thunderous, almost louder now that Lis had grown aware of it. The world felt just as loud as her thoughts, and it…helped. She felt heard.

Taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes, Annalise willed it to calm.

Her sigil hurt, but the sudden storm let up strangely easily – no longer reluctant to obey her whims. But it felt…strange. Like cutting into a cake and realising it was mostly cream and icing as the knife sinks in wonderfully, or like cutting wrapping paper and the scissors start to glide. 

It was a sense of surprise and comfort, hiding an underlying feeling of otherworldliness. Like life wasn’t supposed to feel this…unchaotic and easy. 

The heavy pelting rain slowed to a gentle drizzle in an unnatural manner as the pregnant storm clouds above them parted and dissipated to allow the cold sun to reach them. The river no longer roared past under their feet, so she opened her eyes to find the world had cleared.

Quiet sounds of birdsong filled the air as Annalise gave Stefan a sheepish smile at the complete look of awe on his face before turning back to the water. “Sorry. It’s not usually that responsive to my magic.”

“No, it’s okay.” Stefan joined her, taking a second to collect himself before leaning against the railing, looking out to the beautiful view of the river and the forest below. He seemed to be unsure what to say next, so Lis sent him a small smile.

“I’m Lis. I don’t think you remember me, so uh...nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I figured with the weather and all.” Stefan nodded back while gesturing to the sky with a huff of disbelief, before he calmed, eyes crinkling into an awkward smile. “Damon said I hurt you a lot. But you still helped us, helped _me._ So uh...thanks.”

Her smile strained as she valiantly tried not to let it drop right off her face. “I don’t help.” Annalise shook her head sadly. “Not as much as I should.”

“You help enough, and that’s apparently more than we deserve.” A hand clapped her firmly on the shoulder, drawing her attention to a firm nod from an unlikely friend. It was hard to imagine she’d once stopped him from running a car off this bridge; stood on opposite sides and watched as he’d climbed into his car with a hateful glare directed at her and Nik. Smiling at him suddenly felt easier, so she did.

“Thanks.”

“Not at all.” He shook his head dismissively before frowning at her slightly. “I wanted to talk to you. You…reminded me of someone…I think.”

Annalise just offered him an unsure nod as his gaze lingered thoughtfully for a few seconds before snapping himself out of it. Stefan smiled once more, nodding to himself as he stepped away. “Well, I’m going to get going. I need a break from all this for a while.” Stefan grabbed a bag at his feet that she’d not noticed, hauling the duffel over his shoulder before straightening up with another grateful smile. “Thanks, for not treating me like some broken thing that needs to be fixed.”

“Sure.” Annalise nodded, passing him a half-hearted shrug. “That’d be pretty hypocritical of me, right?” It was nice of him to offer her a small smile at her pathetic effort to make him light of the situation. “Anyway, my number’s in your phone. Call me if you need anything.”

Stefan nodded once more with a small smile, blurring off into the distance with little ceremony.

Annalise turned back silently to watch the dark water continue to rush under her feet.

-

Dry leaves squelched wetly under her combat boots as she hesitantly stepped through the underbrush. Her heart beat fast, too fast, and she was finding it harder and harder to catch her breath.

Her black cardigan caught on a small branch reaching its finger-like buds towards her. However, her pace didn’t falter, even as Lis felt the soft fabric give and tear on the sharp edges of the branch.

This was her first funeral, despite the many deaths that haunted her life, and she doubted a tear would be given much attention next to her darkened under-eyes and sallow cheeks she’d tried to brush blush onto.

All it did was off-set her paled complexion, so she’d given up.

Being presentable wasn’t a priority – being there was.

As she neared her destination, a circle of supernaturals flared obviously on her improved sixth sense up ahead of her, and Annalise was hyperaware of how weak her knees felts as she made her way through the foliage. She really didn’t want to go. People say funerals were for the living.

Annalise knew the truth; funerals were for the dead - to help them move on. Closure was a powerful emotion, but she didn’t want Bonnie to stop fighting, disappear.

She refused to let her go.

After all, denial was one of the few things she was good at.

She needed to make sure Bonnie didn’t give up today – not when Qetsiyah was now out there, and murder was tentatively on the table. Her gut somersaulted nervously as the woods around her thinned. Here goes.

Stepping into the small clearing was a nerve-racking affair; a dread weighed her down as six faces all with various stages of sadness and anger swivelled around to watch her – maybe she was imagining the accusation that lined their expressions? Elena’s eyes were hardened hatefully towards her. This had been a mistake, hadn’t it? Her fingers fiddled with her cardigan at her side subconsciously as she swallowed, trying to not allow her empty expression to betray her internal despair.

Jeremy saved her. With a small supportive grin he approached, steering her closer to the small mossy stump of a tree they had all gathered around. The suspense in the air dissipated, leaving behind a sense of repentant loss.

Elena had her arms crossed, not meeting her unsure gaze, but Damon, Matt, Tyler and Caroline all passed her small uncertain smiles. The kind that are false, hiding the sadness behind them.

Lis looked away.

There were a few objects already on the tree stump, objects that were obviously significant to each of the members around the circle - a picture frame of Jeremy and Bonnie smiling widely increased the lump in her throat; a pair of black and red cheerleading pom poms seemed cheerful in the darkening dusk; a lifeguard whistle flashed silver as a bird flew overhead and a singular white rose lay in stark contrast to the moss and dirt layering the stump. Bonnie’s grimoire sat squarely in the middle, dusted by a handful of fluffy white feathers.

This was a shrine – a grave for a ghost holding on. This was good.

She just needed to make sure the connection remained.

Annalise gestured to it unsurely, clearing her sore throat before breaking the solemn silence. “I’m afraid I’m not willing to part with what Bonnie gave me.” Her eyes fell to the small opal ring on her hand, glinting in the dimming sunlight before meeting Jeremy’s sad gaze once more. “I hope that’s okay.”

“It is.” Jeremy nodded once, before his gaze shifted slightly to the left of her shoulder. “She wants to thank you, for being by her side when she thought she had to do it all alone.” Her eyes snapped shut, nose stinging as tears threatened to flow. Jeremy gently continued. “She says that this was her decision, and it was never your fault, that you don’t deserve to feel the guilt you do.” Annalise shook her head, taking in a shuddering breath. “She wants you to be happy.”

“And I will be.” Her eyes opened tearfully, with new determination furrowing her brow. “As soon as you’re back.”

Her heart splintered at the sad acceptance in Jeremy’s eyes, and once again, she remembered the dark river rushing angrily under her.

She felt as though she was about to fall.

Her knees shook, just about ready to give out from the weight on her shoulders. Shook because she felt hollow and just about ready to collapse because of it. But she couldn’t give up. Not yet.

Clenching her jaw, she blinked back her tears as vindictively straightened once more.

She refused to let herself go under.

-

The lake’s cold water felt both soothing and numbing as Lis let her bare feet hang into the water while she sat at the end of the pier. The wood felt uncomfortable and damp on her thighs as her jeans had become soaked, but she wasn’t distracted.

No. Annalise had her eyes shut, breathing in time with the wind brushing ripples along the surface of the still water.

Her mind now felt calmer, at peace. Determined.

No matter how far the chasm deep inside her had cracked, it felt as though the magic around her rushed to fill her festering wounds – the pain seemed more distant, dull and manageable; like when she had felt as though she was removed from her physical body when she’d been under the influence of the Vasanitrio Medallion. Something separated her from her torture – protected her from it.

This didn’t have to be a bad thing – no matter how much her sigil burned. She was stronger now. Her control over magic was stronger.

She could do more.

Her thoughts wandered to the night before.

Nik had called her again, asking for information on the Harvest ritual. Annalise’s heart had immediately dropped. It made sense now why the witches of the French Quarter were so adamant about getting Davina back.

She had known of the practice; it was a barbaric ritual sacrificing the lives of teen witches in order to reinforce the bond between a coven and their Ancestral magic. Lis had seen rumours on online forums, but with everything that had been going on, and _Silas,_ she hadn’t even bothered to entertain the thought of them being true. If it _was,_ and Davina was in fact a surviving Harvest witch – it made sense Davina was this powerful. The poor girl must have unwittingly absorbed the magic of the teen witches sacrificed before her – which meant if she had run away and was seeking refuge with Marcel, the witches were after her to get their young aspiring dead witches back.

She’d let Nik know there was a time limit on this – the witches would have to get their hands on her soon – the magic; now acting as a stopper between the witches' magic and their Ancestral plane, would eventually overwhelm the girl and overflow. Run rampant.

This did unfortunately mean Davina would have to complete the ritual in order to keep the city, _hell,_ the world safe from the Ancestral well erupting. And if what Nik said about Sophie Deveraeux being one of the Harvest girl’s aunt was true, she’d stop at nothing to finish the sacrifice in time for the Reaping to get her niece back.

At least according to the scripts online, the ritual seemed legit, and was only discontinued for the barbaric nature of it all.

The girls might live just yet.

Nik had denied needing help, reminding her that once again that she wouldn’t be able to hand Davina over to be sacrificed unwillingly – that she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. Annalise reminded herself that Nik truly did mean well – it wasn’t his fault her anger made a beautiful vase splinter because the flowers it held spontaneously burst into an honestly lovely bush.

So now, with nothing to do, Annalise was meditating – but even as the sun beat down warmly on her face, and water lapped gently at her calves, Lis couldn’t help but let her mind wander. It wandered from Mindy and Alex warning her away from the Original family to Kol kissing her goodbye. From Bonnie gifting her with a small ring with an embarrassed smile to finding her dead on the cave floor. She was snapped from her thoughts when a larger wave splashed up to her torso – looking around, the rest of the lake seemed to be in turmoil, cresting at least half a metre high. Climbing to her feet quickly, she retreated with wide eyes. An anchored pontoon boat at the neighbouring lake house’s pier started drifting away before promptly toppling over an unnaturally large wave.

Well.

She promptly turned to head inside.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Damon. **‘Come to the grill, I have an idea. My treat. xoxo.’**

Annalise rolled her eyes, before slipping her shoes on and blipping to the alleyway behind the grill with a sigh. She shook off that new strange feeling that lingered after using her magic as she walked in through the back door. Despite the sarcastic tone that seemed to fill the text, she hoped his offer for a free drink was valid.

She’d gone without a drink for quite some time. That wasn't a spell she planned on breaking. 

As she approached the bar past the filled booths inside, she could almost immediately spot Damon’s signature leather jacket and shock of messy black hair lounging in one of the tall chairs, next to Stef-

_Fuck me._

Silas.

Annalise froze in terror, feeling all the emotions she’d managed to distance herself from come back full force, but unfortunately, Silas said something to Damon before both turned around to look directly at her.

_Fuck._

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

Damon waved her over jovially, like he _hadn’t_ seen her help Bonnie reduce the man in front of them to literal stone. Forcing her feet to move once more, and wilfully ignoring echoes of Kol’s voice telling her to _get as far away from here as possible - his eyes begging her to fight back;_ she set her face into a glare as she moved to sit on the vacant barstool at Damon’s other side.

Nope. Alcohol it is. It was the thought that counts after all.

“You’re dead.” She hissed under her breath, before signalling to the bartender, and pointing at the bottle of vodka on display at the bar. Turning back, she met Silas’ amused gaze and felt her shoulder twinge in phantom pain.

“Hi sweetheart. No hard feelings about nearly draining you, right? I hear Tess was a giant pain in your backside - as usual. That woman has no chill. Completely psycho. She practically drove me to cheat. And, uh...I forgive you too.”

Her anger burned as her eyes blazed silver. “That’s ‘cos you still need me, for reasons unknown, _dick._ ”

Annalise nodded her thanks to the bartender and threw her drink back in one go. It burned deliciously down her throat, settling warm in her nervous gut. Her fried nerves thanked her for it, even as she swallowed heavily to clear the antiseptic taste from her mouth. All the anger that she’d been tamping down for the last few months; at herself, the _world_ , returned tenfold.

She turned back to Damon and Silas; Damon’s brow was raised impressed, but Silas tilted his head at her with a vaguely disturbed dip in his brow.

“You’ve clearly got a problem.”

Annalise didn’t even bother to look at him, ignoring him in favour of settling Damon with a dark glare. “I thought we were getting along, Damon, then you have to go and pull this shit.” She narrowed her eyes further at his unrepentantly smirk. “Why’d you call me here?”

“I have a plan. A mutually beneficial plan.” Damon smirked, clasping his hands together, he turned to Silas. “Now, returning to business. You’re still here, you suck at killing yourself. What’s stopping you?”

“Apart from the fact that my cure is in the body of a _cockroach_ that looks exactly like my former love?” Silas shrugged, looking forlornly at the bar top. “A mystical anchor. That’s what bind’s Tess’s spell to the Other Side. _I_ want to destroy it, and _she_ wants to protect it, for whatever reason. She’s the only person who knows where it’s hidden, but fortunately she will be at the Whitmore Historical Ball this evening.”

“Wait. Hold your horses.” Annalise raised her hands in a time-out gesture. “I knew about the anchor from Caelesti’s story, but to destroy it? A recent tome I found has the theory that what we conventionally consider death, is energy existing on another magical plane. Forget tearing the veil down and unleashing two thousand years’ worth of supernaturals on earth, destroying the Other Side and sending those souls _who-knows-where_ sounds just as bad. You’ll effectively be killing every single supernatural that died in the last two thousand years _all over again._ ”

She couldn’t let that happen to Bonnie. To _Kol._

“Don’t worry Peach.” Damon patted her shoulder briefly. “Like I said, I have a plan.”

Good. That was good news. For Bonnie, she presumed. But what about all the other supernatural creatures sent off into the unknown?

A heavy weight settled in her stomach as she gestured to the bartender once more. She needed more. Throwing back the double shot almost immediately, she winced inwardly at the burn that followed.

Damon was busy frowning at a bored-looking Silas fiddling with his phone. “How did you know she’d be at the ball? I thought you said you lost all your psychic powers since Stefan’s brain got deep fried.”

“Oh, I did.” Silas nodded casually. “But I still have incredible powers of observation, and I _observed_ her buying a Cleopatra costume today.”

Damon faltered, pausing to exchange a look with Lis. She shrugged, rolling her eyes. She had better things to do than to entertain someone that had killed one of the few adults that she’d genuinely respected. Her stomach turned at the stray thought; she felt sick. The least she could do for Rudy would be to get his daughter back, but she couldn’t necessarily do that with the first doppelganger hell-bent on creating…well, _hell,_ on Earth.

Damon shot her a disappointed look at her lacklustre reaction before turning back to a smirking Silas. “Creepy, but fine. We can work with that. So how about we help you die, and once you do, we use your life to raise one of our witch friends in the process? Deal?”

Annalise straightened, immediately trying to ignore the numbing sensation the vodka offered in favour of paying more attention. Damon shot her a smug look as if saying _see? I have good ideas._

Lis stared at him flatly.

Well…it seems her vague plan to kill Qetsiyah for Bonnie got out – courtesy of Jeremy, she presumed. But using Silas instead…if he was willing…This could actually work. Silas would have to be a witch like Qetsiyah to be able to swap his life for Bonnie’s due to equivalent exchange – _but it could work._ Annalise felt the beginnings of hope flutter in her chest, under the sigil that was starting to burn.

At least, until Silas shook his head non-committally. “We have half a deal. We’ve yet to discuss how you’re helping me.”

“He just said it.” She pointed to Damon and deadpanned, impatiently – Silas was fishing for a favour, but she refused to address it. Instead, she enunciated her words slowly. “We’re gonna help you die.”

“Oh, that little thing? I can manage it myself.” Silas smirked infuriatingly, waggling his brows at her. “No, I need you to be my date.”

 _“No._ ”

Damon looked between the Silas’ pout and Lis blistering glare unsurely. “Well how about we move on and leave the Grill intact-”

Annalise narrowed her eyes as Silas spoke over Damon’s nervous attempt to de-escalate the tension. “That wasn’t the answer I was expecting.”

“How ‘bout _fuck_ no.”

“Yeah, okay.” Silas grinned wider, sitting back in his chair in a pleased manner. “That was _way_ more on brand. You kiss Kol with that mouth?”

The glass of bourbon in his hand exploded into his face violently as her magic lashed out on her behalf, drawing the shocked gasps of the patrons around them. All that was nothing but an afterthought, however, as Annalise found herself nearly out of her seat, lunging towards him had it not been for Damon holding her shoulder tightly.

Silas merely wiped his hands free of the mess using a paper towel the bartender handed him. “Silly me, don’t even know my own strength sometimes.” Silas turned to meet her blistering gaze unflinchingly, tilting his head and studying her closer. “Now that wasn’t nice...or on brand for that matter. Really at the end of your rope, aren’t you? You’re just about ready to combust. You really should take my advice from before and just uh…let go. It’s not healthy keeping all of…” He gestured to all of her, “… _that_ bottled up.”

Annalise was about ready to murder him on the spot, sacrifice or not. She stood with a scowl, feeling her magic react in a more volatile manner than she was used to – a few of the lights dimmed and flickered. Damon reminded them of his presence once more as he stepped in between the pair - tightening his grip on Lis’s shoulder in warning.

“Okay, okay, settle children. You,” he gestured to Silas, “Why do you need her to be your date?”

“Because, she looks great as arm candy,” Damon squinted at Silas before passing him a grudging shrug. Lis slapped with arm away from her shoulder in betrayal as Silas continued, “…and secondly, she is supposed to be helping me with this whole thing,” Silas gestured wildly around him, “like Caelis predicted, so I’ve come to collect her services. Plus, I’m currently not psychic - so while you help on that front, I’ll have this pretty little thing on standby. As my protection detail, let’s say.”

“Wait, how am I gonna help on that front?” Damon raised an annoyed brow at Silas.

“Oh, that’s simple, really. I want you to kill your brother.”

-

It had been so embarrassingly simple to get Elena to get Caroline to tell her what costume Stefan was going in; when she’d had told Damon, not suspecting anything, and Damon had found her a matching costume - Natalie Wood’s Judy from Rebel Without a Cause.

Which is what led to Lis standing awkwardly in the corner of the large room, tugging at the neck of her baby-pink form fitting polo, tucked into a grey skirt that reached her heeled ankles. The iconic bright red signature jacket draped was draped over her arms as she loitered uncomfortably in the corner. 

The decorations…honestly weren’t that cheesy – sure the purple chiffon lining the railing of the large grand staircase was a bit much, but the strategically placed fairy lights twinkling on the columns and the ceiling honestly looked kinda classy.

Huh – that was a word she’d never thought she’d use to describe a college ball. A college _costume_ ball, no less. _Classy._

There he was. Spotting Stefan in a sea of unfamiliar faces by the bar, she hesitantly started walking over, plastering a friendly smile on her bright red lips when he caught her eye. “Hey, James Dean, right? Wonder why Damon dressed me up as Natalie wood.”

Stefan rolled his eyes. “Tell him he’s wasting his time.”

“Ouch. That hurts.” Lis put a hand to her chest, now feeling her uncomfortable smile grow into a more natural one. Honestly, she was just glad that this wasn’t as awkward as she expected it to be.

“No, that’s not what I meant, I-” Stefan shook his head, and his gaze wandered to the left, landing on Caroline. Annalise raised her eyebrows in surprise as she followed his line of vision. Her again?

She nudged Stefan’s gaze back to her. “I understand, but _Caroline?_ Don’t get me wrong, I know she’s supposedly nice and all, but _really?”_

“She _is_ nice.” Stefan grinned at her teasing expression, rolling his eyes. “She’s just a friend. My best, apparently. She’s been helping me through this whole thing.” His eyes lingered momentarily on the blonde as she smiled at someone she was talking to. Annalise stared at him amused until he managed to snap out of it, looking to her with an embarrassed grin. “Anyway, what’s your poison? My treat - it’s an open bar...”

Annalise felt herself smile, but as she went to answer, a hand landed on her shoulder, turning her lightly. “Where I come from, open bar meant ceramic jugs of Phoenician wine.”

Stefan watched Annalise’s smile drop as she grew rigid, immediately stepping closer almost protectively as he stared Tessa down. “Who might you be?”

Annalise watched something bitter appear in the regally dressed, Kohl-outlined Cleopatra’s eyes as she looked between Stefan and her – an echo of the same look she’d given them when Stefan had protected her in the cabin. Before Lis had a chance to study the look further, it disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared as Tessa smiled angelically.

“I’m Tessa.”

“Qetsiyah. The girl who wiped my memories.” A grim comprehension entered Stefan’s voice as Tessa shot him an almost baleful grin.

“Nothing personal, just a little ex-boyfriend drama.” She moved closer to the bar, smile not faltering even as she met Lis’ suspicious stare. “Here, let me treat you two, to apologize for that whole kidnapping fiasco. An ‘I’m sorry’ drink?”

Thank god – had it not been for her sense alerting her that Damon was right behind her, she would’ve flinched when he’d appeared suddenly behind them, throwing an arm over both their shoulders. Stefan shot him an irritated look, one that was promptly ignored as Damon grinned at Tessa sarcastically wide.

“You’re gonna need an ‘I’m sorry’ keg.”

Without another word, he led Stefan away into one of the rooms behind them. She couldn’t muster a smile back when Stefan shot her a worried look, displeased with leaving her alone with the witch. Annalise just turned back to her drink that the bartender had placed in front of her guiltily, knowing that Damon was most likely dealing with his brother, and that Silas was the one walking back out. Her job was to distract Tessa and make sure she didn’t catch on to the fact that Stefan had been swapped out.

Tess must have taken her guilt as nervousness as the woman moved closer to her with a small smile. “I _am_ sorry, you know. For kidnapping you.”

Lis’ hand clenched around the glass in front of her, consciously trying to tamp away her rising anger as she bit out her next words. “I’m not the one you should be apologising to.”

Qetsiyah looked surprised before nodding to herself, reaching for her own drink. “So, you reached the right conclusion.” Annalise felt the glass grow hot in her palm. “Your friend’s death - it was never my intention to overwhelm her.”

“It doesn’t change anything.” Annalise’s hand gripped her glass tighter – watching how her delicate ring caught the light. “Not unless you tell me how to get her back.”

Tess smiled sadly, looking at her in an almost considering manner. “You can’t, lovely. Not the way your magic is right now.”

Her breath caught. Annalise remembered the almost foreign feel that lingered after she used her magic the last few days, remembered feeling something click into place back at Tessa’s cabin. She remembered how she’d hurled when she’d caught sight of the brand on her chest. Her anger left her all in a rush, now replaced by an uncontrollable desire to scream in fear and flee. She felt just as hopeless as she did yesterday – she’d been wrong.

Her sway over magic wasn’t getting any stronger. The magic’s sway over her, was.

“What did you do to me?” Her voice was just barely above a whisper, eyes unmoving from their position fixed on the empty bar.

Tessa gripped Lis’ free hand sitting clenched on the bar gently. “What I did to you was spiteful, and undeserved. I see that now.” She squeezed Lis’ hand reassuringly, prompting Lis’ wary eyes travel to hers slowly. “Just a small spell, one that will be harmless if you promise to do as I say.”

“You hated me.” Annalise felt her lips curve downwards in suspicion. “You attacked me, my friends. What’s changed?”

Tessa’s eyes flicked between hers sincerely. “It was before I knew you defend your friends with the same kindness and ferocity Gaia did. When you came to their defence yesterday, threw me back…”

“What? So you decided to apologise by making me choose between _getting hurt by your stupid spell_ and _betraying_ the same people I helped yesterday?! Screw you.” Annalise retracted her hand from Tessa’s grip in disgust, gritting her teeth in annoyance.

“Calm down. All I need you to do, is protect the Anchor – you’re invested in its safety. I did a little research.” Tessa shrugged gently, taking a sip of her cocktail as she distractedly looked upwards. “Honestly, the music now is so much better. I was about to break Gaia’s lyre over a child’s head-”

Fuck this.

Annalise shot her a hateful scowl, then immediately proceeded to walk away. A surprised hiss from the bartender as he went to pick up her blisteringly hot glass had her looking back in concern, which lead to her stumbling into a firm grip. Hands on her arms steadied her as she recovered her balance, but her words of thanks died in her throat as she looked upwards.

“Fancy bumping into you again.” Silas gave her a warm smile, now dressed as Stefan. More guilt filled her chest as he shot her a friendly grin. “Well, is this your way of asking me for a dance, Lissie?” He angled them in a way that made Tessa’s falling expression as she looked between the pair even more obvious, and Annalise knew her role was to say yes, play along with Silas’s stupid plan, but she...couldn’t.

Shaking her head resolutely, Lis hurried through the dance floor until she ended up in a corridor that was considerably emptier. Music echoed mutedly around her as she sagged tiredly against the wall.

It would have been disastrous if she’d spent another second around Silas - especially now that he was psychic until Stefan woke up again. He’d have sniffed out her deception in a heartbeat – at least now he’d only think that she was burdened with a guilty conscience.

But the sad truth is, Annalise _was._

Who should she help?

Silas? Him and his know-all attitude and his complete disregard for human life – apparently balanced out by his willingness to die in order for Bonnie to be resurrected? He was a perfect candidate on first inspection, at least until you consider his plan to completely destroy the Other Side, with Kol and numerous other supernaturals along with it.

So, should she help Tessa, then? Tessa - who wanted her help in killing Silas _without_ potentially destroying the Other Side, by helping her protect the anchor instead. Silas would get his due – she could honestly care less - and Bonnie and Kol would remain safe on the Other Side until Annalise found a way to get them out.

This decision was doing her head in, but she was jerked out of her thoughts when someone rushed into the hallway loudly, capturing her attention. “...Tyler?”

The hybrid – fitted out in a suit, but looking furious - looked back at her, pausing curiously and allowing his glare to soften. “Lis? What are you doing here?”

“I just got caught up in one of Damon’s plans.” Lis shrugged dismissively, not willing to elaborate further, but noticed that his posture was still agitated. She studied him carefully. “Long time no see. You alright, bud?”

The dim lighting in the hallway only deepened the shadows cast on his face as he scowled heavily. “I just broke up with Caroline.”

Annalise’s eyes grew wide with shock, before she lowered her voice. “I-I’m sorry?”

“It’s him. It’s always been him.” Tyler muttered to himself, not registering her unsure apology as he paced, before turning to her with wild eyes. His hands gestured as he turned to her suddenly, as if trying to convince her. “It’s all Klaus’ fault.” Annalise stifled the incredulous laugh that built up in her chest, keeping her face neutral.

“What do you mean?”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Tyler’s glare worsened once more. “I c- I just _can’t_ live my life knowing that he’ll always be hanging over my head, that I’m _only_ here because he _lets_ me be here.”

Right – Nik had mentioned he’d pardoned Tyler, let up from his bounty on the hybrid’s head for betraying him because frankly, he had bigger things on his plate. Annalise hadn’t known that Tyler was clearly so torn up against that decision.

“Woah, mate. Calm down.” Lis reached out to grab his arm. “You sound angry, and angry people do _stupid_ shit. Your mum’s safe, _you’re_ safe. It’s over. It’s done. Let this one go. Don’t start something you can’t win.”

“I’m not about to live my life with Klaus’ _fucking_ _mercy_ hanging over my head.” He pushed her hand off him, looking at her in disappointment for a moment before scowling. “Don’t worry. I’m finishing this one.”

He brushed past her without another word.

Annalise was about to follow him when she felt the familiar ring of magic in the air in the direction of the exhibits – it felt like Qetsiyah. That meant Silas had done it. He’d lured her somewhere quiet, maybe he’d already got the location of the anchor from her.

_Fuck._

In the instant she made her decision, she teleported to the room where the magic was most concentrated – Lis hesitated in the large room, not expecting to find Silas on the ground clutching at his head in agony.

Tessa hovering over him worriedly with a necklace in her hand. “Stefan, Stefan? Are you okay?”

Annalise didn’t bother speaking - she raised her arm and twisted it with a grimace, snapping Silas’ neck in an instant, ending his groans of pain. Tessa looking up at her in shock, her eyes growing wider as the real Stefan entered the room behind her.

Stefan took in Tessa on the ground looking between the pair in shock, and Annalise with her arm still outstretched towards an unconscious Silas.

“What _is_ this?” Tessa looked between everyone warily.

Stefan stepped up next to Lis, watching her carefully as she lowered her arm, then giving her a small nod. He then gestured at Silas. “He’s working with my brother.” He cocked his head at a silent Annalise. “I thought she was too. Everything he told you was a lie.”

He looked back at Silas in disgust, before moving to take his daylight ring aggressively from Silas’ finger. Passing one last unsure look at Lis, he left the room angrily.

Tessa stood, walking to Annalise slowly as if any sudden movement would send her running. That made sense. She _wanted_ to run screaming.

“Thank you, γλυκιά μου. It appears my trust in you wasn’t misplaced.” She cupped Annalise’s cheek gently even as she remained unresponsive, save for her eyes narrowing at Tessa in distrust. “Silas has now seen my mind. He will know of the Anchor’s location. He will know what I did to you. What I said to you. Think carefully of the choices before you.”

Sending her one last smile, Qetsiyah dropped her hand gently from Lis’ face, turning to leave the grand room in swirls of fabric.

Annalise remained still; eyes fixed on Silas’ desiccated body as her mind worked a mile a minute trying to figure out the implications of what just happened.

She stayed that way, vaguely noticing that she’d lost her red coat sometime during the evening, until Damon blurred into the room in a rush, jarring her from her borderline catatonic state.

His face fell when he found Silas crumpled on the ground with Tessa and Stefan nowhere in sight. “What the hell happened here?”

“I- I let her go. I broke his neck.” Annalise’s voice came out shaky.

Damon paused, then gestured with a heavy mix of both sarcasm and frustration. _“Why?”_

Annalise took a deep shuddering breath, turning to him with an exhausted shrug. “I don’t know.”

“What are you _doing,_ Lis?! Whose side are you on?!”

Annalise’s mouth fell open wordlessly before running a wild hand through her perfectly styled hair. “I don’t even _know_ , Damon. I feel like I’m being stretched thin, I just want to stop people getting hurt, I _can’t_ -” Annalise buried her face into her hands, letting herself fall back onto the couch behind her.

Elena suddenly stepped through the door that remained ajar after Damon’s explosive entrance, gaping when she saw Silas on the ground and immediately going to his aid. Damon immediately grabbed her arm, stopping her from reaching for him. “Stop, that’s Silas.”

As Elena processed this, and her eyes flicked between the room’s occupants shrewdly. “What happened?” Annalise felt Damon’s glare sink into her in accusation. 

Sighing, she took a moment to collect herself, tamping down the sobs building in her throat for just a few minutes more, before tiredly facing Damon’s betrayed expression. “Tessa said Silas found out where the anchor is.” The pair looked at her sceptically, but Lis let her eyes drift over their shoulder to the crowd just past the slightly open doors obviously, before meeting their eyes once more. “You need to go somewhere private. Catch her up to speed. I’ll just be a minute. Here.” She held her hand out, one already on Silas’ shoulder. Damon regarded her with narrowed eyes before nodding, finally putting his hand in hers. Elena followed his lead warily.

They disappeared from the room the next moment.

A broken gasp escaped her throat as she took a deep dragging breath. The gasp turned into a harsh cough, making her hold her chest in pain. Something in her pulled strangely that time, but she forced it out of her mind for now. She exhaled deeply in a steady stream, then repeated the motion a few more times until her chest no longer hurt.

Okay, okay. She could do this. She could checklist.

Checklists were handy. Yeah, she could do that.

She took stock of everyone quickly. Silas was unconscious. Qetsiyah probably on the run, on her way to the Anchor. Damon and Elena were with Silas. Stefan was...fine…she hoped - Caroline was right outside and she would probably check on him. Tyler was... _fuck_ he was going to do something stupid wasn’t he?

Fumbling into her pockets, she drew out her phone, speed dialling a number she had somehow managed to memorise.

Dial tone, then a single piercing beep. _Voicemail._

“Hey uh...I just wanted to let you know that I ran into Tyler a moment ago, and he seemed pretty angry and bent on enacting revenge on you in the near future, so look out for that. He uh…seemed kinda unhinged so don’t hurt him too much, please? He’s just, he’s just angry and looking for someone to blame.” She ran a shaky hand through her hair, exhaling weakly. “Nik, I uh...things at Mystic Falls aren’t-they aren’t going great. Qetsiyah, she uh- I can’t. She gave me a fucking ultimatum and I have no idea what to _do._ I just- I need your advice. Call me, when you get this, if you have the time.” She removed the phone before she jerkily put it back adding a “And stay safe.” as an afterthought. The dial tone rang in her ears, cutting off any rambling that she was going to erupt into.

Right. She felt better. She’d taken care of one thing on the list. Annalise suddenly thought back to the day after the third massacre, when she’d seen Caroline run through a checklist in her mind in order to deal with the havoc she’d just wrought. It had seemed impersonal back then. Now, it seemed the only way she could even begin to think of putting one foot in front of the other.

It was time she moved on to her next task. Managing Silas, Damon and Elena. Gathering her agitated magic to her core, she let it pull her in the direction she wanted to go.

-

Annalise appeared in the living room of the Salvatore house the next moment, freezing in shock – she’d expected to walk in on Silas still dead, and a hard conversation happening between Damon and Elena. What greeted her was a much more grim reality. Damon stood to the side, arms crossed and looking unnerved as he watched Silas – only the immortal being awake wasn’t the most confronting bit. No, it was that Silas’ head was buried savagely in the neck of a girl, hands caging her tightly.

There were two Elenas, or two Katherines, depending on how you looked at it.

The most obvious conclusion to come to was that Katherine was the one looking on with wide eyes and the ghost of a smirk on her face, not lifting a hand to help her doppelganger dying in Silas’ grip, but no... that didn’t make sense, did it?

No, Damon wouldn’t let that happen…and…Silas had needed the cure, hadn’t he? The cure that had resided in Katherine.

Katherine sagged as Silas adjusted his bite with no mercy, and Annalise could almost imagine the feeling of blood leaving her own neck - she wasn’t able to tear her gaze away as Katherine struggled in Silas’ grip, _like she had-_

“No, _stop that-”_

Damon was in front of her the next second – hard eyes burning into her own as he held her in place, hissing. “Do you want Bonnie back, or not?”

Annalise couldn’t tear her eyes away, even as she ceased fighting against his grip.

Katherine jerked in Silas’s unforgiving grip once, then again, before falling limp - Silas dropped her to the ground with little ceremony, wiping at his mouth with a wide grin. “That hit the spot.”

But both Damon and Elena’s gazes were locked on Katherine’s still form on the floor after exchanging an incredulous look. Elena huffed in disbelief.

“Do you hear that?” Damon on the other hand, looked almost amused, as he had almost expected this, but there was no hiding the clear disappointment on Elena’s face.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Takes a licking, keeps on ticking.”

Wait, does that mean…

Annalise was a flurry of movement as she dropped to her knees, pushing Silas to the side with a wave of her hand and ignoring the “ _Ow.”_ as he was shoved awkwardly onto the wooden armrest on the sofa. Instead, she placed her fingers at Katherine’s pulse point. Lis had to wait a moment before she felt a weak thready pulse push against her fingers, but _that meant she was still alive._

Before she gave much thought to what she was doing, Annalise found herself placing her palms flat on Katherine’s chest, reaching for that tangible mass of energy inside. Gripping on tight, she _pulled._

Her eyes stung as they burned silver, and the fire crackling happily in the fireplace _roared_ at her magic’s eagerness to do her bidding. It was as if she and her magic were one, and as her rush tapered off, that sense of euphoria felt draining just as much as it felt fulfilling.

Opening her eyes slowly, she found Katherine already staring up at her tiredly, before her eyes squinted sceptically. “Never thought I’d make it to wherever _you’re_ going Mother Teresa.”

A relieved chuckle erupted from her throat, even as Damon gave her a sour look and Silas looked unnaturally serious as he scrutinized her.

Annalise’s grin didn’t falter.

Finally – she’d done _something_ right, and it had felt amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone got any thoughts about the necromancy tome Lis found in New Orleans? How about who she reminded Stefan of when they bonded on the bridge?  
> Also - I wanted to thank everyone who's ever given me kudos, commented or bookmarked the story - I just saw I received the 100th bookmark and I am blown away by your love!
> 
> Honestly any and all feedback welcome, I just want to hear what's on your mind!!  
> Hope you enjoyed!:)


	41. Fates Unbroken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday update!   
> Warning - Strong language and graphic depictions of canon-typical violence. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Greetings~! Good morning frenemies!”

“Nope. Definitely still enemies.” Annalise entered behind Silas tiredly, one hand placed over both her eyes and the other stretched out in front of her to make sure she didn’t bump into anything. “Is everyone decent?” 

Magic flared next to her in response, followed closely by the loud screech of the curtains opening somewhere in front of her. Damon and Elena’s ire seemed almost palpable as Silas used his magic to disturb their ambient peace by introducing the pair to the offending morning sun.

Lis empathised with them; she really did. After all, her morning hadn’t looked much different – given that her restless sleep had meant she’d woken up in panicked state at realising someone was mere inches away from her face pulling an Edward Cullen, her receptive magic had flung him right out the open door of the Gilbert Lake House in a comical fashion.

Silas’ footsteps moved further forwards into the living area of the Salvatore Boarding house, clearly choosing to move past her exhausted question with tangible cheer. “As you all know, I’m only a few hours into my old life as a witch, but somehow, the sun feels warmer.” His footsteps paused. “Probably because I’m not cursed with having to outlive it.”

“The answer is yes.” Annalise rolled her eyes behind her hand, clearing her throat as she braced herself against what she assumed to be a table. “He’s been this annoying the entire morning. Wasn’t pleasant.”

“You’re talking to a vase.” Came Silas’ petulant reply, to which Annalise simply raised an unimpressed brow in his direction. Silas sounded put out. “Damn, I forgot you have that sense. Didn’t hurt to try though.”

“Nope, definitely hurt your pride there, buddy.” Movement sounded from the sofa as Damon stood grudgingly. “We’re decent, Peach.”

At his confirmation, she dropped her hand to see the pair standing next to the couch, arms crossed, and eyes narrowed suspiciously at Silas. Elena still wasn’t meeting her eyes. The realisation that it didn’t bother her as much as it once would have, made her pause for a moment. Annalise dismissed the thought distractedly as her eyes landed on Silas basking in the sun streaming through the large windows next to them.

Damon looked irritably at the current witch. “So, what’s with the home invasion, Silas?”

“Well, _Damon_ ,” Silas spread his arms with a wide smile as he turned on his heel, “after two thousand years of a miserable existence, I finally get to die.”

“Perfect. Damon, kill him.” Elena sounded testy. Annalise smirked in amusement as Silas held both his hands up in defence as Damon stepped closer threateningly. Well, at least they shared that sentiment.

“Now, now. What’s the rush?” Silas’ grin radiated faux innocence. “Trust me, I’m as impatient as the anyone else here for me to finally die and finally reunite with Amara after two thousand years, but I’m afraid there’s just one more to-do to cross off first.”

“What now?” Elena threw her hands in the air impatiently. “You promised you would bring Bonnie back from the Other Side.”

“I did.”

“Forgive me if I don’t trust you. You’re kinda evil, no offence.”

“None taken.” Annalise rolled her eyes as Silas grinned unsettlingly wide, assuming his more naturally sleazy persona. “I’ll be able to do all of that, just after the small business of locating the anchor in order to destroy the Other Side first.”

Annalise chewed on the inside of her cheek silently, gladder than ever that Silas’ psychic abilities had disappeared alongside his immortality. Now he was just a witch – a run of the mill, extremely old and powerful witch who could probably still pack a mean punch – but definitely mortal, so there’s that. 

She couldn’t let him destroy the Other Side – she couldn’t let him do that to Kol, no matter how confused about him and whatever existed between them made her feel. If she was being honest, Lis didn’t even trust him to get Bonnie back either.

But somehow, she trusted him more than Tessa. Trusted how sincere he was that night in the rain. She couldn't shake the look in his eyes as he'd realised her true potential. 

Damon regarded her hesitantly, before letting his eyes flick back to Silas. “Ah…weren’t you playing for the other team last night?”

Annalise rolled her eyes, hard, at his choice of wording as Silas chose to answer on her behalf. “We’ve sorted our differences; she scratched my back, and I…forgave her for her previous offences.”

Damon grimaced in repulsion, trying to figure out what that meant, but Annalise wanted nothing more than to move on. Turning to Silas, she tilted her head. “So where is it? I know you read Tessa’s mind last night.” - Maybe she could get ahead of it, protect it from Silas but take it away from Qetsiyah for leverage.

Silas nodded his head proudly at her. “Now, that’s what I like to see – cooperation.” He walked over to her, throwing a friendly arm over her shoulders even as she scowled in disgust. “It’s in New Jersey.”

“New Jersey?” Damon raised his brows in judgment. “The supernatural other-world is bound by an object in Snooki’s backyard?”

“It’s in a _stock_ yard, and it’s being shipped out.” Silas corrected him, “So, we really need to get going, isn’t that right, Jer-bear?”

Annalise looked over her shoulder to see Jeremy levelling a crossbow at Silas threateningly. Silas looked amused at Jeremy’s attempt to scare him, throwing the boy a teasing grin. “Hello, hunter. Banner day for you, huh? Didn’t you and the Bennett witch use to…” He cut himself off with a cheeky whistle and a suggestive waggle of his brows.

Elena walked closer to Jeremy, holding her hands up placatingly. “It’s okay, Jer. We all want the same thing today. Silas dead, Bonnie alive.”

Jeremy’s eyes flicked to Annalise, to which she nodded slightly in confirmation. Lowering the crossbow slowly, his doubtful eyes flicked between Damon, Elena and her, not straying from Silas for too long.

“You guys really want me to believe he’s going to bring back Bonnie out of the goodness of his heart?”

Silas shrugged easily, one arm still holding Lis in a deceivingly casual grip. “Well, I hope not. I mean, I _am_ kind of a monster.”

Jeremy raised the crossbow at him once more in response, making Silas move Lis in front of him so she was a literal human shield for any lethal arrows – she rolled her eyes, sighing as Silas spoke up from over her shoulder.

“You know guys, I’m feeling really ganged up on right now, ‘kay? I would hate to lose my temper and do something…” Annalise felt magic flare behind her but stood unbothered as Silas held up four fingers with flames shooting out their tips, “…crazy.”

Both Elena and Jeremy took a step back warily, Jeremy looking more concerned for her, but she shook her head and let a large gust of wind blow the flames out, sending a few papers fluttering into Silas’ face, while extinguishing his weak flames.

Silas whacked the paper out of his face as he let her go, pouting at her. “You’re such a wet blanket, Lissie. Look at me, a witch for less than a day and already more willing to use my magic than you ever were, judging by their reaction to my little party trick you could probably replicate in your sleep.”

“I get wanting to show off, sure.” Annalise shrugged. “But I’m pissed off at you and I wanted you to know.”

Silas let out a loud chuckle Lis stepped away, feeling her phone vibrate with a text from Nik, making her breath catch in silent panic. 

“ **Plantation house, now.”**

That was alarming. “ ** _Now?_ Magic ok?” **

**“Yes.”**

Even worse. This was serious.

Elijah had even called her last night having woken the day before with apologies of leaving her behind in Mystic Falls – old news, sure, but explanations she treasured, nonetheless. He cared, and that meant the world to her. But if _Elijah_ wasn’t enough - if Nik was willing to let Marcel find out about _her_ through Davina…this was bad.

But the anchor, Silas and Qetsiyah - she couldn’t-

Annalise shook her head. She needed a break.

Priorities. Fuck them.

“Change of plans.” Annalise turned to Damon and Jeremy with a look that wasn’t as apologetic as she wanted it to be. “Look, I need to leave, now. Text me the address of where you are when you get there.”

Jeremy shook his head, moving closer to her imploringly. “No, Bonnie needs you here today, Lis. Please.”

“And I will be.” She squeezed his reaching arm, turning back to a displeased Silas watching her carefully. “Think of it as me choosing to opt out of the road trip. I need to go to New Orleans.” Silas frowned, but Annalise kept talking firmly. “You made me take care of Tessa in the morning by putting a boundary spell on her cabin remotely, so you shouldn’t run into any other problems until you get there anyway.”

Silas opened his mouth in protest, but Annalise wasn’t having it.

This was clearly an emergency.

“I’m. Not. _Asking_.”

-

Annalise burst into the living room of the Plantation house, geared up to fight, but froze unsurely when she realised the entire Plantation House was empty of magical signatures barring the hybrid sat in the antique armchair in front of her, staring pensively out the window.

She faltered, clearing her throat.

Where was the emergency?

“Nik?” His contemplative eyes snapped to her, lined unfamiliarly by suspicion – mouth set firmly in stifled anger. His prolonged silence further exacerbated the gnawing worry at her chest. She walked closer, prompting him. “Nik, what’s wrong?”

“You were right, Tyler kidnapped Hayley last night.”

Oh. “I _knew_ that little shit was gonna do something stupid. Gimme a sec to find her.” Chucking her hurriedly packed bag on the dining table, she shut her eyes and prepared to spread her senses wide. Nik interrupted her before she'd even begun.

“No need, love. Elijah and I found her out in the Bayou.” He let his hands steeple together in front of his chin as he spoke, rage subtle in his casual tone. “I let Tyler keep his miserable little life, but had I realised his intention was to kill my child, I wouldn’t have let him live.”

“What?” A cold chill settled upon her spine at what he insinuated; her voice breathless in horror. “I knew he wanted revenge, but killing your unborn _child_ \- _he wouldn’t_ \- Why would he-”

“He had heard rumours, and then confirmed, that my child’s blood can sire hybrids.”

His careful eyes gauged her reaction as Annalise fell into a chair with a disbelieving thump. “Oh.”

Lis remained quiet for a moment, processing the information before looking up at him once more. This time with urgency in her voice. “So, witches are gonna be after her ‘cos of a stupid prophecy and the fact they hate anything that’s remotely vampire; the werewolves can’t know because they’d think you’ll use your child to force them to become a superior species; and the vampires can’t _ever_ know because not only would Marcel find out you’ve got a child, he’ll think you’ll use it to create hybrids to overthrow him.” Annalise caught her breath. “Am I missing anything?”

“I believe that explanation was adequate enough.” Nik’s voice betrayed nothing.

Annalise nodded dumbly before turning more determined. “Alright. What do you need me to do? I bet you’ve already got contingencies planned to keep your baby safe.”

Nik stilled, staring at her for a long moment with his eyes narrowed. Annalise’s eyes flicked between his studying ones hesitantly. “Nik, are you…okay?”

Her unsure prompt seemed to push him back normal as he smiled his usual dimpled grin, and even though his posture didn’t change, his entire countenance softened in an almost relieved manner. “You hear that my child is able to sire the hybrids that I once desired more than my own family, and your first thought is to ask me what I’ve done to ensure my child’s safety?”

“Um…are you sure you’re okay?” Annalise passed him a confused smile back as he stood grinning at her softly.

“Yes.” He stood, gesturing her to follow him to the front door - she followed, still lost as to what just happened. Nik’s smile dropped into something more bitter. “Elijah and Hayley were convinced otherwise – they were worried that siring a new line of hybrids was the only reason I was protecting Hayley, and my child. It’s why I left them stranded in the Bayou, after biting Elijah, of course.”

Lis nearly tripped over her own feet as she descended the front steps of the large Plantation house into the New Orleans heat outside. _“Of course.”_ Annalise echoed sarcastically as levelled him with an unimpressed glare. “You just got Elijah back, Nik. I’m gonna go pay them a quick visit.”

“No.” Nik grabbed her shoulder before she could concentrate on finding Elijah and Hayley’s signature to teleport to them. “No doubt Marcel already knows of your presence in New Orleans, time is of the essence.”

“Elijah’s suffering, Nik, I-”

“I summoned you here because both my brother and sister are plotting against me, and I need to show Marcel with you on my side, that I am still a force to be reckoned with.” His gaze hardened. “Or are you not with me _?”_

Annalise sighed, moving his hand off her shoulder and squeezing is gently. “Nik, I’m sure you don’t need _me_ to convince Marcel that you’re still a threat, okay?” She dropped his hand, stepping back. “I’m not choosing Elijah’s side. He was wrong. But now more than ever, showing that you still stand united with your brother is _important_ – no matter what arguments you get into. I’ll heal him and come to you immediately. I promise.”

Nik finally nodded looking entirely too displeased, but Annalise took that as the go-ahead to teleport straight to Hayley’s evolving insanely unique signature out in the Bayou.

She appeared in a small wooden cabin at the edge of a large lake – the sound of gentle waves lapping against the muddy ground would have been peaceful had it not been for Elijah groaning in pain as he lay fevered and sweating in a cot on the ground. He looked nowhere near collected as he usually did; his usual blazer was off, and his white shirt had its sleeves rolled up, half unbuttoned to reveal the nasty and decaying black bite on his shoulder.

Hayley’s eyes found her almost immediately in relief, her death grip on the cloth she was using to dab at Elijah’s brow lessened as Annalise passed her a quick smile.

“Oh, thank god you’re here. You can do something about this, right?”

Annalise nodded, crouching down next to Elijah to place a small hand next to the putrid bite directly on his blistering skin. As she channelled her magic into the wound with a low “ _Sana,”_ , Hayley sat back in clear exhaustion, though her eyes were still trained worriedly on the vampire.

Annalise lifted a brow in amusement before turning back to concentrate her healing magic into the wound – Hayley really cared about Elijah, huh?

A brief thought popped into her head…that was probably added to why Nik acted out and bit Elijah. Not only were his intentions questioned; Nik was probably feeling insecure about Elijah replacing him as the father.

She cleared her throat again subconsciously, feeling a tickle build at the back of her throat.

Lis’d been feeling under the weather now that she thought about it – coughing even as she helped Silas remotely trap Qetsiyah in her little cabin after an _extremely_ annoying wake-up call.

Still, she pushed her cold to the back of her mind, focused more on watching how Hayley’s eyes softened watching Elijah’s festering blackened veins retreat out of the corner of her eye. A subtle smile ticked up Lis’ lips.

The pair complimented each other - where Hayley was hot-tempered and determined, Elijah was calm and courteous. They would be good for each other.

The bite now lessened gradually until it was nothing more than a faded scar, prompting Elijah to sit up with a gasp. His eyes immediately searched for Hayley, then met Annalise’s like an afterthought as she stood, her movement drawing his gaze. She gave him a happy grin before a coughing harshly into her elbow.

Maybe she was coming down with something. She hadn’t had a cold in…ages or something.

That didn’t matter know – Nik needed them there already.

After her attack subsided, Annalise waved aside Hayley and Elijah’s concerned looks with an urgent one. “I hope you’re ready to fight, ‘cos shit’s about to go down. Nik called me here. He thinks everyone’s abandoned him, and he’s gone to confront Marcel himself.”

Elijah stood in a worried hurry, unrolling his sleeves and throwing on his suit jacket, then buttoning his cuffs as easy as breathing. He nodded as she continued. “I’m gonna teleport Hayley home safe, and you and I are gonna go help him, yeah?”

Hayley shook her head. “No way. I’m coming with you.”

“Please, you need to stay safe. I-” Elijah immediately reached for Hayley, looking concerned for her well-being, but cut himself off as he looked over her shoulder and out the open door of the small cabin. Annalise followed his furrowed gaze to see a woman standing at the tree line, almost hiding behind it. Blonde hair plait in a braid stood out stark and bright against the dark foliage. It appeared he amended his previous train of thought. “I believe it’s time for you to stay and get your answers, Hayley.”

“Fine." Hayley looked behind her before turning back and nodding reluctantly. "I have this feeling that I can trust her.”

Annalise nodded at her. “Perfect.” She extended a hand to Elijah, who grasped it immediately but didn’t move his eyes from the pregnant werewolf, even as Lis concentrated in finding Nik’s signature. 

Her breath caught as she found it flare brightly between more than two dozen vampires converging on him all at once – Rebekah was there too, she noticed in relief…but she wasn’t moving to help Nik.

Oh, _shit._

Immediately, she pulled them to the fight.

They appeared in the middle of a courtyard of what appeared to be a compound of some sort, with several storeys extending high above them – the walls were cracked, and vines grew along them, almost covering a large insignia of an ‘M’ engraved on the walls. In the back of her mind, Annalise vaguely realised it was the same ‘M’ that had decorated the leather cover of Elijah’s journals.

The carnage only added to the dark aesthetic.

Their quiet entrance didn’t draw anyone’s attention from the fight. Annalise’s heart dropped as she saw numerous vampires beheaded and hearts absent as they lay where they were thrown in anger. Nik was still fighting, roaring furiously as vampires lunged at him from all sides. For a mere moment, it felt as if time stopped.

Under the dim light of the cloudy afternoon, Nik looked exactly like the monster the stories claimed he was.

In his throes of anger, inky black veins crawled up his face to meet his yellow hybrid eyes bright with fury, face splattered with blood and teeth bared in a loud snarl – he looked ferocious, and every bit the predator he held inside him. He looked like Klaus, the merciless Hybrid. Annalise followed his eyes to realise they glared at Rebekah standing in place, petrified with fear.

When she’d felt Rebekah’s magical signature stay still she had assumed the worst – that her friend was captured; but now it appeared that Bekah stood _against_ Nik, next to who she assumed was Marcel. She’d known that Bekah still loved the man, but to stand against her brother and watch Marcel’s goons attack him?

It made sense why Nik’s angry and betrayed eyes never left the pair between every heart he pulled out with a yell.

The beheaded body of a vampire smacked violently into the wall beside them, and time sped up once more. They jumped into action, not wasting a single moment – Elijah dispatched a vampire preparing to lunge at Nik’s turned back in a blur. Lis flared in front of her best friend, steadied herself with a snarl and raised her hands out in front of her.

She _pushed._

The ground beneath her rippled as the force of the pulse reverberated through the air, sending the rest of the vampires in her vicinity flying backwards and slamming harshly against the unyielding walls with a resounding _BOOM_.

Only her own harsh pants reached her ears in the ringing silence that lingered – the sudden sound of someone shifting behind her had her turning swiftly with her arms raised once more, but Nik held both his hands up in mock surrender, a small but proud smile playing his lips.

Just behind him, she saw Elijah still looking around at the unharmed building in wonder, then letting his eyes fall past her shoulder to the vampires who were starting to collect themselves slowly off the ground.

She turned back to face them grimly, coughing along with them as they recovered from the dust cloud that had erupted from the ground at her display of magic.

Marcel picked himself up off the ground heavily, eyes trained warily on Lis before flicking back to Rebekah in suspicion – Lis had made sure Rebekah remained upright and unharmed during her attack. It had effectively passed around her, over her, and left her unscathed.

Rebekah nodded at her in thanks, looking slightly conflicted.

The vampires gathered facing them once more, but no one made a move to attack. Either Marcel hadn’t given them the silent signal yet, or they were scared as they were stared down by the foreboding trio in front of them.

Lis felt Elijah move to stand poised and disapproving slightly to the right of Nik, who in turn looked the devil incarnate in the middle, with his hair and eyes wild and unruly. Lis stood on his left, now slouching as she crossed her arms casually, shooting a dry look at Rebekah at the pleading look she received.

Rebekah’s fearful gaze became more desperate as it met Lis’ unimpressed stare.

The blonde’s eyes flicked to Nik in fear before landing on her once more imploringly. Annalise tensed, lips settled into a displeased frown, before nodding slightly with a sigh. She wouldn’t let Nik hurt Marcel. Or Rebekah, for that matter.

Rebekah’s relived look had Nik pushing past Lis towards the pair, but Annalise also moved forwards, to Nik’s side, eyes flaring brightly in warning at the surviving vampires collecting themselves off the floor.

She spoke to Nik lowly, hyperaware that everyone in the room could hear her.

“Dude. Chill. You made your point.”

“No, no I fear I haven’t, Lissie.” Nik stalked forwards angrily, an unsettling grin stuck on his face. Lis exchanged a worried look with Elijah, who subtly placed himself between his two siblings. He’d be ready to protect Bekah. Annalise nodded, then looked back to Nik in concern. “Marcel has yet to admit his utter defeat.”

Marcel moved to walk forwards to confront Nik, anger and loss moulding into rage as he looked at his fallen friends, but Rebekah held him back by his arm worriedly. “No, _no._ You won’t survive. He won’t stop until everyone’s dead. You can’t win. Elijah won’t let you hurt him.” Annalise noticed a lone vampire lunge out of the shadows at Nik – without a single gesture Lis ruthlessly broke his neck in mid-air, letting him drop like a stone.

She didn’t let her eyes linger on the unconscious vampire for too long, even as she was internally shaken to her _core._ Killing him had been an _instinct._ It scared the hell out of her. Marcel’s eyes darkened as they studied her grimly, head tilted, now listening to Rebekah speak. “Not even Davina could stand a chance against her. End this, _now._ ”

Nik moved forwards, effectively blocking Marcel’s piercing gaze drilling into Lis. “I have yet to hear your decision.” Marcel glowered at his sire hatefully, before dropping to his knee, and picking up a single coin off the ground and holding it up in bitter defeat. “Well, well, well.” A pleased and victorious smile stretched at Nik’s lips as he acted in mock surprise. “The great Marcel, self-proclaimed king of New Orleans, bowing before me.”

Marcel threw the coin at Nik’s feet in disgust. “There.” His mouth twisted hatefully as he spoke. “I hereby pledge my allegiance to you. You have the keys to my kingdom. It’s yours.”

Nik just smiled in absolute glee, teeth stained a striking red.

-

Elijah had made his exit shortly after Marcel had acquiesced his kingdom, quietly letting Lis know he needed to go back to the Bayou to make sure Hayley was still safe. Annalise nodded distractedly as he left, eyes trained on a few of the surviving vampires groaning as Nik’s bite poisoned their blood. They were suffering.

They had been positioned next to the dead all covered in a large white tarp. It appeared they had already been forsaken – they were saying their goodbyes, resigned hollowly to their horrible fates.

A few vampires were pouring vodka and bourbon over the dead, taking the occasional large swig as they saw more of their fallen friends.

It felt as though she was disconnected from reality as her eyes watched the alcohol splash on the white tarp.

What a waste.

Mechanically, she made her way through the courtyard, realising at the back of her mind that the sole of her left shoe was sticky with blood.

This was okay. She didn’t like these shoes anyway.

The vampires gave her a wide berth and hateful glares as she made her way through them to where Nik was conversing with Marcel.

She managed to hear the tail end of the conversation.

“…You can put me back on the street for all I care. But let’s make one thing clear; you will never have _this_ – loyalty. You can’t buy it, you can’t force it. It comes only out of love and respect for the people who believe in you.” Marcel moved closer to Nik; eyes narrowed hatefully at Nik’s apathetic expression. “You taught me many things, Niklaus Mikaelson, but this, I learned myself. And it’s something you’ll never know. Enjoy your kingdom.”

_Well._ Her apathetic and numb state grew angered.

As Marcel turned to leave, Lis stepped in his way in challenge, lifting her chin up defiantly. “ _Earning_ loyalty the right way, huh? Brave words from someone who enforces their iron will by way of public executions. You _disgust_ me.” Marcel’s lips tightened in anger as he went to speak, but Annalise spoke over him coldly. “I’m sorry, I’ve been so rude. We haven’t met. I’m Lis. Nik’s _friend._ Nice to meet you.”

“Now, this is new." The vampire looked her up and down in cold amusement. "You must be who Davina called me about earlier today.” A disbelieving grin stretched Marcel’s lips, eyes flicking to Nik’s impassive ones as if asking if Annalise was being serious. She was. Marcel looked back at her with a raised brow. “Fine. Make the same mistake I did. Go ahead, trust him until he screws you over.”

Annalise raised a brow. “Bold of you to assume that he hasn’t already tried, failed and _learned_ from his mistakes.” She moved closer to him, fake smile dropping. “I trust him because since then, he’s done nothing but protect me. Hell, he didn’t even want you to know about me.” Marcel faltered as Lis smirked once more. “I find trust is a two-way street. The only reason you wouldn’t trust someone, is if you’ve got something to hide yourself." She moved closer, eyes narrowed. "So, what’s your secret, mate?” Marcel’s eyes widened imperceptibly before his expression fell flat into a poker face.

A _big_ secret, then. Huh.

Annalise smirked, before her gaze moved to Nik’s amused and calculating eyes trained on Marcel’s little slip up. Nik offered tilted his head silently in question as she gestured to the pile of dead and injured behind her. “Hey, I’m gonna go heal the vampires you bit, ‘cos I know you won’t. They’re getting ready to burn them along with the rest of the poor souls you massacred, and honestly, it’s really getting to me. I wasn’t prepared to see all these people die.”

Nik nodded, moving closer to pat her shoulder softly. “Do as you wish, Lissie. I’ll be going to the house to pick up Hayley. No doubt my siblings will be there to also convince me that their betrayal was all my fault.”

Lis nodded lightly, sighing. “Fine, I know you won’t hurt them, and I know you’re hurting. Just…let them know they were wrong.”

Nik nodded once more before moving past her on his way, squeezing her shoulder in thanks.

Marcel’s sharp eyes caught it and remained on her as Nik left. Lis glared at him before turning wordlessly on her heel to make her way over to the bitten. She heard Marcel follow her close behind.

A young vampire, dark-skinned and cute, had it not been for the dark glare he aimed at her, stepped out to block her path to the injured. “No _witches_ past here, especially not one’s that’s Klaus’s _bitch.”_ He hissed; eyes narrowed in hate.

Annalise just huffed in amusement. “Well, you’re in luck. I’m neither a witch, nor _Klaus’ bitch,_ as you oh-so-politely put it. Let me past if you want me to heal your friends. Or don’t, I don’t really mind. I’m doing this to reduce my own guilt – very selfish reasons.”

“Diego, step aside.” Diego nodded reluctantly as Marcel spoke up from behind her. She did nothing to acknowledge it as she moved forwards to assess the wounded – four still alive. Two bitten on the neck, the other on his upper arm, and the last on his wrist. She knelt at the first two, putting a hand each on their necks.

Sharp surprised gasps echoed from behind her as she glowed lightly, eyes flaring into a bright silver. The wounds immediately receded as she pumped her magic into them gradually – she remembered when her magic had once taken all night to cure Bekah – now she had managed to hone her healing magic to a matter of seconds.

It was getting easier the more she did it. Her recent change at becoming more attuned to her nature and magic as a whole only furthered the ease at which her magic complied to her demands. Annalise didn’t bother looking up as she moved to the centre of the last two after finishing the pair before, repeating the same motions.

When the last two vampires stood, still giving her wary glances before walking off to talk to their friends, Annalise dusted off her jeans, standing up with a low sigh. Looking around, she realised with a small jerk that she was all too close to the pile of dead bodies.

A detached arm stuck out at an odd angle, and her stomach turned in disgust. Turning away sharply, she grabbed the bottle of unfinished vodka hanging from Diego’s arm and took large gulps, ignoring his affronted shout. Waving an arm in his direction, Lis gulped down the strong liquor even as her throat burned and the strong fumes of the vodka felt like it cleared her sinuses as she swallowed hurriedly. Its strength made a cough rack through her, a hacking thing that had her collecting her breath the next moment before offering the empty bottle back to a disturbed Diego.

Ugh, she really needed to get this cough checked. “I'll uh...pay you back?” 

Diego threw the bottle to the side with a scowl as he turned away to go talk to his friends. Annalise ignored the dirty glares he kept shooting her way delicately, before shooting a dry look at Marcel still watching her quietly. “What?”

“What are you? How- why did you heal them?”

“Like I said, I’m Nik’s friend.” She swallowed heavily, eyes still wandering to the limbs now getting swallowed by warm flames as she cleared her throat. “I’ll let him fill you in on the details. As for why…I’m not great with watching people die.”

Marcel raised his brows sceptically. “Klaus isn’t the best person to hang around if you want to avoid death.”

“What can I say?” Annalise shrugged. “Bekah, Elijah, Nik; I care about them. A lot. I want to keep them safe. I’d do anything to keep them safe.”

Marcel viewed her shrewdly for a long moment, looking at her in a new light before he nodded to himself. “Yeah, remember this then. Coming from someone who used to feel the same as you; people don’t last long around them.”

-

Annalise watched the dark storm clouds roll overhead thinking back to the day that had unfolded, Marcel’s foreboding words echoing in her mind.

Only the faint patter of raindrops filled the once bustling picturesque streets of New Orleans; interrupted sometimes by a joyous alcohol-fuelled yell from the depths below. With the dull glow of the streetlights, and the old-fashioned buildings stuck in time around them, Annalise revelled in the dull pulsation of the languid magic seeping idly through the alleyways into the heavy early evening sky. She dropped her head back, leaning it against the wall behind her, eyes shut.

For the first time, in a long time, she felt disconnected from the constant danger she felt in Mystic Falls, from Silas and Qetsiyah. She felt selfishly at peace.

Guilt crashed into her immediately; she was the only one equipped to deal with all this, wasn’t she?

Annalise couldn’t afford to second-guess helping them. Being involved.

At least – _they_ couldn’t afford her to think that way. Since she was the only one able to _do_ something, what happens when she decides she _doesn’t want to?_

Everything that happens afterwards would be her fault.

And Annalise had enough on her conscience to last her a lifetime.

Lis was drawn from her quiet musings when she felt two familiar signatures join the vampires still milling around grieving in the large open space withing the compound below - Nik had brought Hayley here, yet she felt no sign of Elijah or Bekah. She hoped they were well, though judging by Nik’s agitated signature things certainly hadn’t gone well.

She only had to wait a moment more until she felt him turn up near her.

Lis opened her eyes, standing to join Nik as he stood staring sombrely out over the thin metal railing. “What happened?”

Nik’s fingers tapped on the railing as he spoke quietly. “They assumed the worst, again, so I left them there and brought Hayley here, to our old home to keep under my protection.”

So, Bekah and Elijah weren’t hurt. Good.

She chose to nudge Nik gently to lift his spirits. “This used to be your home?”

“Long ago.” Nik nodded, faint smile gracing his lips as he stared off to the distance lost in a memory. “I remember the days spent in this “Abattoir”, as aptly named by Marcel, were some of my greatest memories to date.”

Lis let out a small sigh of comprehension. “And you hoped fighting so hard for it, bringing everyone back here, would bring you closer to recreating it.” A sad smile tilted on her face as she nodded to herself. “I understand trying to replace something you lost, Nik, but most times, the memories you do end up creating unplanned turn out far better than you could ever imagine.”

Nik smirked at her teasingly. “When did you become so wise?”

Annalise rolled her eyes as she went to reply but was distracted when Nik’s eyes narrowed at her bag sat in a nearby chair. Annalise realised the low buzzing was coming from her phone repeatedly, and as she hurriedly reached for it, she saw all the messages from Damon and Jeremy she had received in the last hour. “Fuck.” At Nik’s questioning look, she explained, still scrolling through all the messages. “Damon texted me an address. That’s where the Anchor to the Other Side is. Silas wants to destroy it, and Qetsiyah wants to protect it. And apparently Elena went and got herself trapped as Qetsiyah’s bargaining chip.” She ran a stressed hand through her hair as Nik frowned moving closer.

“Forgive me, I forgot your troubles that you left on your voicemail. What ultimatum did Qetsiyah give you?

“She wants me to help protect the anchor, even though Silas promised that if we helped him destroy it, he’ll help us get Bonnie back. She said she did something to me. A spell - one that she feels guilty about. She said she’ll reverse it if I help her.” She patted his arm distractedly in reassurance as he grew rigid in restrained anger. “Don’t worry, I feel fine – my magic feels _better_ if anything, and it feels like I’m more connected to it-”

A cough racked through her once more, making her nearly double over with the force of it.

She felt as though she was coughing up a lung, her throat burned, and her eyes teared up. Nik patted her back lightly while watching her in concern.

“Are you okay?”

Catching her breath and straightening slowly after the attack passed, she nodded her head, wincing. “Yeah, yeah I must have choked on my saliva or something stupid. I’m fine.” She massaged her neck, turning back to Nik. “So, any advice?”

“Stay here. Let them destroy each other like two fighting dogs.” Nik smirked darkly. “I’ve always killed those who gave me ultimatums.”

“Of course, you have.” Annalise rubbed at her eyes tiredly before shaking her head. “I need to see this through.” His expression soured, but he nodded anyway.

Annalise passed him a small smile before leaning in to hug him around his waist. Nik’s arms tightened around her for a quick moment, patting her hair, before detaching her like he would a leech.

She shot him an insulted look, to which he shrugged with a grin playing on his face. “I just got back my kingdom, can’t have my disloyal subjects think I’ve gone soft in my absence.”

“Sure.” Annalise rolled her eyes, grinning. “Be that way. I’ll catch you later.”

-

While walking out of the wrap-around balcony and into what appeared a study in the Abattoir, Annalise was struck once again by the antique beauty that the old building radiated. Sure, some walls had exposed brick that seemed much more like a well-worn aspect showing the age of the house instead of it being a stylistic choice, but Lis could imagine how a prestigious family like the Mikaelsons had called this place home. It wasn’t sweeping, white and majestic like the houses she’d seen Nik reside in for the past year – boasting of his wealth, but it had a warm feeling of a home well-loved.

That wasn’t to say the compound _wasn’t_ just as grand as the others – the large three-storey building that basically took up an entire block in the French Quarter was nothing less than impressive to begin with. But add to it the large rooms lining the indoor balconies that looked down into the hollow centre of the compound decorated by a large stone fountain and ivy creeping up the walls that added a lovely charm to the interior – it felt…magical, to say the least.

A flare of a familiar signature caught in her periphery, and before she knew it, Annalise was knocking on a nearby heavy wooden door lightly. There was a pause in movement from the inside before the door cracked open just slightly – enough for Hayley to peer warily out at her.

“Lissie.” At her soft grin, Hayley pulled the door open further with a larger smile. “Thank you, for today.”

“No worries.” Lis passed her a dismissive shake of her head. “You settled in nicely?”

“Yeah.” Hayley nodded distractedly. “Yeah, everything’s good.”

Annalise nodded before shooting her a significant look. “Did you get the answers you were looking for back at the bayou?”

“I think so. I found out what happened to my family.” Hayley’s expression faltered, turning more serious and hushed. “What do you know about curses, ones that swap someone’s natural state…inside out?”

Annalise frowned heavily at her. “I- curses are incredibly particular, Hayley. Usually made to hurt someone specifically.” She tilted her head in thought. “Not to mention most people don’t have two states, unless of course you’re talking metaphorically. Or do you mean literally, like Nik’s hybrid curse when his natural state was supressed?”

"The second one." Hayley moved closer curiously. “So…they can be lifted?”

“For sure.” Annalise nodded before looking around carefully – it thankfully appeared as if Marcel and his vampires had left the compound while she’d been talking to Nik. “If you had the original spell, and the object the curse was bound to, you should be able to break the curse.”

At Hayley’s relieved smile, Annalise shot her a curious look. “Why did you wanna know?”

Hayley gestured backwards, going to sit on the edge of her bed. “I found out today that my entire pack was cursed by Marcel – cursed to live as wolves and allowed to turn into humans only for one night in the light of the full moon.”

“Hayley…I’m so-”

“It’s fine, really. I just want to get to know them, y’know?” Hayley looked at her imploringly. “All my life – they were all I looked for. I thought they’d left me behind, but they didn’t, and I want to meet them so much, especially _now,_ with me pregnant and-”

“And you will, Hayley.” Annalise squeezed her shoulder in comfort, “Now you know what happened to them, you can help them. Lifting the curse should be a breeze.”

“But it isn’t, is it? You were going somewhere. Again.” The wolf glumly looked towards the ground with a heavy sigh before looking back up at her. “I need you to do something for me.”

Annalise nodded solemnly as Hayley stood, grabbing her arm firmly. “I need you to let Elijah know that I’m fine here, let him know that he doesn’t need to worry about me.”

“Of course.”

Annalise was about to turn away when Hayley flung her arms around her tightly. Annalise returned the gesture for a moment, surprised, before Hayley stepped away.

“Thanks, Lis. See you soon?”

Giving her one last soft nod, Annalise appeared in the Plantation house.

Immediately, she burst into action, moving to the table to rifle through her bag, drawing out two candles, a map and a marker. Predictable footsteps sounded behind her as she spread the map out on the dining table, looking at her phone to memorise the address before locating the closest place to it on the large map.

“Lissie.”

“Hey, Beks. Lijah.” She looked up at Rebekah and Elijah standing to the side of her distractedly before turning back to the map.

“Marcel’s fine, his ego’s bruised though.” She said in reply to Rebekah’s worried expression, then shot Elijah a reassuring smile. “And Hayley’s fine too, settled in. She told me to tell you she’s fine, and that you don’t need to worry after her.”

“What are you doing?” Rebekah moved closer curiously as Annalise marked a small dot on the map before straightening and lighting her candles with a flick of her wrist, then positioning them on the map strategically.

She finally turned to face the siblings fully with a grimace for a smile.

“I’m teleporting myself to New Jersey. Never been there before, so it requires a bit more prep. A whole lotta shit’s going down with the gang over there, so I’m in a rush.” Annalise shrugged before moving to hug Bekah. The girl hugged her back tightly.

“I wish you safe travels then, Lissie.”

“Of course, Lijah.” Annalise grinned at him slightly from over Bekah’s shoulder before stepping back from the hug and grabbing her bag. Her face fell lightly as she addressed the pair in a more serious manner. “Look, I’m not gonna butt in on family business, but Nik was hurt, so uh…show him that you mean well, yeah? Take care, you guys.”

Elijah gave her a solemn nod even as Rebekah frowned, rolling her eyes.

Annalise nodded back at her friends when her phone buzzed again with a final message. Her energy drained out of her in a heartbeat as something heavy settled in her stomach. “Oh, _shit.”_

“What’s wrong?” Eljiah moved forwards.

“It’s Damon.” Annalise blinked back her tears as she felt her emotions rise in turmoil, her reactive magic igniting the map spread out and carefully annotated with bright flame and reducing it to a pile of ash. Annalise gave it little thought as she waved a distracted hand to extinguish the high flames of the candles. “He said I’m too late. _Fuck._ That means the anchor is missing, or in danger and the Other Side is _moments_ away from collapsing, and they didn’t get Bonnie back, and I just dropped all that for _healing werewolf bites and I_ -”

“Lissie, this isn’t your faul-”

She shied from Rebekah’s comforting touch, hurriedly putting the candles back in her bag. “I need to make this right.”

Annalise appeared in the Salvatore Boarding house the next second.

Elena and Damon looked at her from where they were sitting on the couch, Jeremy sat on the opposite couch, drinking straight from a bottle of bourbon. She swallowed back the cough building in her throat, clearing it instead. “What happened?”

“There she is. The ace up our sleeves. Or she would be, if she wasn’t always so inconveniently _not_ here.” Annalise looked away from Damon’s sarcastic look, full of disappointment to Jeremy taking another large swig of bourbon.

“What the hell, Jeremy?!”

“What? You do it all the time.” Came his glib acidic retort.

Drawing back insulted, Annalise scowled. “Yeah. _Legally,_ you moron.” She shot a disappointed look at Elena. “Why the hell are you letting him get drunk?

“He’s _my_ brother. Not yours. I know what he can and can’t handle.”

“Hey. Give them a break, Lis.” Damon stood, directing her attention from Elena’s harsh and challenging glare. “Let me catch you up on what you missed. The anchor, surprise – was a calcified Amara.”

“What? How-”

“No, no wait. It gets better. Amara drained Silas dry because she couldn’t stand to live another day on this cursed Earth, so we’ve got a suicidal _mortal_ anchor tied up in our dungeons while Silas is _MIA_ and dear Tessa’s still at large. Need I go on?”

“What about Bonnie-”

“You weren’t here to help, Lissie. Not when we needed you most.” Jeremy stood angrily, glaring at her while levelling his bottle at her accusingly. “What was so important that you couldn’t spare the time to finally _get her back?!”_

“I was helping my family.” Annalise felt the lights around her flicker as she bit back her growing anger. “It’s what any of you would’ve done.”

Damon laughed sarcastically. “You mean the same family that abandoned you?!” He spread his arms wide. “When are you gonna wake the hell up, Lissie? They don’t _care_ about you. You’re _convenient_.”

“Yeah, you’re right, I am.” Annalise scowled harshly. “But when have _you_ ever treated me otherwise? Huh? Treated me like a _friend,_ instead of _blaming me_ every single time something in your god-awful lives go horribly wrong?! I'm _sick and tired_ of having to answer for _your_ messes _!_ ”

The floor under her trembled, and dust from the rafters shook free as Annalise’s anger grew. Jeremy stepped forward grimly even as Elena tried to pull him back away from the unstable woman. 

“Bonnie cared, _Lissie.”_ Her anger faltered as her chest hurt. Annalise let the world around her grow still as Jeremy continued coldly. “She was there when you needed her. It’s a shame you didn’t care enough to do the same.”

Annalise cleared her clogged throat in the silence that remained as Jeremy glared at the empty space over her shoulder for a moment, his face darkened into a scowl. Lis had no doubt he was speaking to the witch in question. Her guilt was clawing at her throat as the irritation in her throat grew worse. “You don’t k _now_ that Bonnie. You don’t know that there’s nothing she could’ve done today. We don’t know that because she wasn’t _fucking_ here.”

She couldn’t hold it in anymore – a harsh coughing fit had Annalise doubling down by the force of it. Dry hacking coughs tore out of her throat – after a few moments, she straightened weakly to meet the perturbed stares of trio in front of her. Damon looked at her oddly. His earlier anger had given way to worry as he approached her. “You good there, Peach?”

“Yeah, I just,” Annalise rubbed at her neck in embarrassment, “I just think I’m coming down with something.”

“Really?” Jeremy had put the bottle of alcohol on the nearby table as he neared, and even Elena was looking at her in the distance with a small amount of concern in her gaze as Jeremy continued. “You think you’re sick with the common cold? I would’ve thought that something as powerful as you wouldn’t ever get sick.”

Annalise shook her head with a humoured huff. “Of course, I get sick, Jeremy, I-” A chill travelled down her spine as she tried and failed to come up with instances where she’d fallen ill in her life. “I’m sure I-”

“Bonnie says it’s not natural.”

Annalise spluttered. “No, it’s just a cough, okay? I’m _fine._ I- _”_ She cut herself off abruptly, frowning in concentration as her gaze shot upwards towards the ceiling.

Lis stared for a bit before she swore, pulling herself to Stefan’s signature upstairs immediately. She appeared between Stefan behind her at the door, and Qetsiyah opposite them seated at the edge of Stefan's bed. 

She felt Damon and Elena’s signatures run up behind Stefan as she stared Qetsiyah down coldly. Tessa scowled, gaze drifting from Annalise standing in front of Stefan defensively, to Stefan ready to jump into action behind her. It was as if she was re-living a particularly painful memory as she spat. “Do you have any idea what it’s like, watching history repeat itself?”

Annalise held her hands up placatingly as she moved forwards. “Look, I’m sorry I wasn’t there protecting the anchor today like you wanted me to. I really am.” Her gaze wandered to where Tessa seemed to clutch at her stomach, blood spreading over her dress slowly before she met Qetsiyah’s wild and angered eyes once more. “You’re hurt.” Annalise approached her slowly. “Let me heal you, and we can talk about how we can handle this situation.”

“No, no.” Tessa stood threateningly, movement agitated like some cornered animal. “I _want_ this wound. It’s a reminder of what you two really are. That at the end of the day, I’m nothing more than an afterthought.” She looked at Stefan over Lis’ shoulder. “You know, memories _are_ important. I made a mistake; I eased your pain. You used to have a lot of pain, remember?”

She lifted a hand in his direction; the next moment Stefan buckled in pain behind her, clutching at his head with a tortured yell.

Annalise threw up a hand to push Tessa back at the same time, but the damage was done. Tess smiled in glee as Stefan groaned at the weight of his memories implanting themselves in his mind once more.

Pushing Tessa back using her magic had pulled at Annalise in a different way, and this time, she couldn’t stop the wracking cough that tore up her throat. It wasn’t stopping easily; Annalise swore she tasted blood at the back of her throat as the coughing fit reduced her to sagging pained to the ground, struggling to catch her breath.

She felt hands steady her – Jeremy – as she nearly fell. Damon and Elena were behind them, focusing on supporting Stefan.

Annalise shuddered as the final wave of coughing felt as though it hacked out her lungs, swallowing heavily to lubricate her dry throat. Every breath she drew rattled down her hoarse throat, but she straightened with Jeremy’s support to narrow her teary gaze at Tessa.

The witch’s gleeful smile at Stefan’s misery had dropped when Annalise had nearly hit the floor, and now her eyes were studying Annalise carefully in a sombre manner. 

Annalise’s voice was hoarse and breaking, talking made her taste blood in her mouth, but she persisted lowly. “What did you do to me?”

“Nothing it appears you didn’t deserve.” Despite her hard tone, Qetsiyah’s eyes seemed sad as she watched Lis massage her neck. “I wish you well.”

“What the hell Is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll see.” Tessa moved past them, sparing a small dull glance at Stefan writhing in pain in Damon’s hold, eyes clenched shut in pain. She looked back towards Lis almost sadly. “I really do hate seeing history repeat itself, but now it appears that is the path that lies before us. This could have all been avoided if only you’d learned and chosen right this time. I could’ve saved you. Remember that, Annalise. You should have chosen me.”

Lis gulped back the taste of blood once more, reaching out for her magic in comfort – it responded readily, easily. Too easily.

What the fuck had Tessa done to her?

Whatever it was, as Qetsiyah disappeared past Damon and Elena in the doorway, meeting her eyes one last time, Annalise felt for the millionth time – that sense of foreboding that had stuck with her on her first nights in Mystic Falls. It was worse now. Like a cloud pregnant with rainfall just waiting to burst at any moment.

She tensed, narrowing her eyes.

Annalise wouldn’t go down without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments last chapter, it means the world!  
> I can't believe we're so close to the end, guys, just one more chapter left! Ahhh it's been nearly ten months of this absolute beast, but I just can't wait to continue writing, I love it so much! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	42. The End of the Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay guys - life's just not been great and I wanted this last chapter to be just perfect - but I did want to get it out as soon as I could!! I can't believe this book is over, I never imagined it being as big as it was. 
> 
> I want to thank all my readers old and new for enjoying this book as much as I enjoyed writing it, but this isn't the end! The next book in the series called the Primera Pluma should be up next week Sunday with a new chapter so keep an eye out!! 
> 
> Warnings: Homophobic comments, graphic descriptions of canon-typical violence, and major character death.   
> Hope you enjoy!!

The day shone with bright sun and jubilant birdsong as laughter bubbled from the dais familiarly. Maids dressed in light brown rushed past busily carrying large white garland of flowers, while a gaggle of handmaidens dressed in purple visited the community fountain to collect more water into clay pots.

Spring had come early, courtesy of the expert practitioners of magic in their coven – the fresh smell of blossoms permeating the air was indicative of the celebration happening that very evening; even the trees and bushes were primed perfectly in preparation.

The wedding was the talk of the town.

Another loud peal of laughter made the rushing maids pause with a small smile – the joyful sound had become commonplace in their coven lately, and the maids were all incredibly fond of it. Well, all except one handmaid in particular.

No one saw the stiff set to her lips as she secured the purple veil she wore tighter behind her ear, revealing only her shapely but guilt-filled almond brown eyes. The maid was incredibly beautiful; anyone could tell by her alluring gaze, her demure and quiet character – had she not been so obviously born to the coven’s washer woman and _not magic_ , there would be a large amount of doubt surrounding her possible lineage to royalty.

But Amara wasn’t royalty.

That much was obvious in the lengths she had to go to be _someone_ in the coven; her beauty had been the reason she’d become the personal handmaiden to one of their coven’s top practitioners – but the rest of the recognition she’d obtained was by her effort alone. 

With that recognition, she’d gained the eye of her one true love.

At the start, it didn’t hurt to have her lady be enamoured with her love also – when they went on picnics and sunset walks, it gave her reason to follow close behind. It didn’t hurt to catch his attention, his fleeting glances as they brushed past each other to get closer to her lady.

It certainly didn’t hurt when he’d pulled her into an alcove not two moon cycles ago and kissed her breathless.

But then the ruse had gone too far.

What had started out as a harmless excuse to find reason for a handmaid and the third most powerful warlock in their coven to spend time together, had now become a prison. Gossip mills wandered when their two favourite practitioners would marry now that they’ve spend so much time together – her lady only seemed to thrive off being the talk of the town; embarrassedly shaking her head while wearing a shy smile as she heard whispers of a coming proposal.

It had seemed too real, and it _hurt_. There was no way true love would persist and win. Amara had said as much on one of their midnight rendezvous. Their ruse would win over the _truth_. Her lady would win over _her_ , and all her effort, her hard work to reach her current station would’ve been for nothing because at the end of the day, she was nothing more than a washer-woman’s child.

She’d _always_ be nothing more.

He had denied vehemently, stressed and ran his hands through his hair until he gravely said he could ask for help from his oldest friend.

Silas hadn’t wanted to include her. Gaia.

Despite being known as the most powerful practitioner of magic the coven had; they’d never treated her with the respect her power demanded. The coven ridiculed her to no end as she ran down the streets exuberantly, bare feet kicking dust up in the air, her hair wild and filled with an array of wildflowers and leaves.

Rumours about her that reached her ears, of her wildness and infidelity never seemed to cause her worry. Then again, years of self-doubt would help in building up a defence that strong. She’d always been strong. When Gaia had turned up at the coven’s borders with her younger sister standing quietly behind her while clutching her hand tight, she loudly claimed they were orphans, daughters of a coven killed for their natural connection to the Earth. That they seeked asylum, a place for her young sister to live and a roof over their heads.

Any aversion the Coven Elders had to adopting the outspoken and wild girl along with her little wisp of a sister with that unnatural all-seeing gaze, had been blown away by the large gust of wind Gaia had summoned, along with dark grey rainclouds over their crops dying from the desert droughts. Now, the townsfolk, no matter how much Gaia’s nature scandalised them – had no power to deny her freedom; not when she was one of the sole reasons their coven had flourished even with the relentlessly blistering weather and the flash floods varying from season to season.

Now, that’s not to say the coven hated her, but they did hate the fact that they _needed_ her.

The rich always hated admitting they need the aid of the poor.

This was why Gaia had become firm friends with her lover in childhood.

Where Silas had also come from poverty much like Amara, his natural ability to do magic had granted him a position in the coven court as he’d grown into the formidable practitioner he was today. While this did grant him respect, he was marginalised in small ways; unnoticeable to the rich, but in all the ways that truly mattered to the poor. Though he’d earned his place in court by effort alone, much like her, he still remained an outsider to the royal court, albeit not as outrageously frowned-upon like Gaia was, but close. That had left the two to grow close in their separation from the coven core, practice their different magics together – grow to become best friends, the family that each of them never truly had.

But that wasn’t why he hadn’t wanted to involve his best friend.

Gaia’s budding friendship with the uptight lady Qetsiyah born into her station filled with riches and respect had been unexpected; but the more Amara and Silas had stolen away to spend precious little moments of time together, the more time her lady had been left with Gaia for company.

Initially, Lady Qetsiyah had looked down snobbishly at Gaia as an outsider, however her straight-forward but whimsical nature had won the High Priestess over. 

So yes, Amara had managed to keep Silas from telling Gaia in the first few months of their secret affair because how honest Gaia was. At least that’s what she told him.

Honestly, she wanted to keep it a secret because maids, servants and the poor held Gaia in high regard, and Amara was no exception. The workers of the coven blessed Gaia endlessly unlike their rich counterparts, loved when she visited to plenty their struggling crops. Now Amara and Gaia had scarcely exchanged a few sentences, greetings here and there, but even that was unheard of for the higher class in their coven. Servants should neither be seen nor heard, but at the nobles’ beck and call for all their lives.

But Gaia had never been that way. Once Amara had dropped clean laundry and had promptly burst into tears, when Gaia had miraculously appeared next to her and cleaned it all up with a quick spell and a wink. Another time Amara’s younger sister had broken Lady Qetsiyah’s lyre, Gaia had immediately taken on the blame, and had the audacity to tease the High Priestess by saying she was doing the world a favour. She’d suffered no consequences of course, other than her lady’s acidic ire, but even that had abated once Gaia had wandered from the woods the next day, having fashioned a new lyre of a faded grey wood, carved and beautifully decorated.

So, no, Amara wasn’t afraid that Gaia would spread their coveted secret. In fact, she knew that the young woman would go to the ends of the Earth to protect Silas from his fall from grace if the news of their affair ever reached the coven elders’ ears.

What Amara was _truly_ afraid of, was the judgement she feared in Gaia’s eyes. Her frustration at how irresponsible the pair had been, and how their actions could lead to hurting someone she now considered a friend. Gaia never did seem to share or understand the bitterness both Silas and Amara held toward the nobles, but still, it meant more when you receive the disappointment of someone you held in high regard.

But now? They were in far too deep.

Silas had thought of a way weeks ago to ensure their safety while not involving his friend, at least not directly. Amara’s lips tightened sourly as she thought of his adamant claims at the idea being a good one, but their plan had become something incredibly twisted and so much _worse._

Worst of all, he had managed to convince her to go through with it.

It had started a mere month ago. Silas seemingly gave into the persuasions of the older nobility in their coven and met with the head of their coven – Leonidas - Qetsiyah’s father, to ask for her hand in marriage. The man had agreed; after all, even he couldn’t deny the absolute power his eldest daughter and the most powerful male warlock’s joining would grant their coven.

So, that very same day, Amara had resentfully watched Silas present his _false_ beloved with an extravagant proposal in the middle of the marketplace, drawing the crowd’s attention by making their fountain run gold while spewing rare gemstones.

Qetsiyah had been the picture of happiness, but Gaia’s thin smile had faded quickly once she'd walked away after congratulating the new couple.

Amara hoped that wasn’t because she’d caught wind of their false pretence, but it hadn’t seemed that way when Silas convinced both his betrothed and best friend to create the Immortality Elixir. Amara had been in Qetsiyah’s quarters when it was discussed - had been there when Gaia’s firm rejection of using their magic to bastardize and betray the natural progression of nature itself shook the noble’s quarters with a heavy rumble.

Qetsiyah – enamoured more with the idea of being immortal than being immortal _with_ her engaged – had begged for Gaia’s help on behalf of her and Silas. Silas had implored it to be her wedding gift to them – then Gaia had grudgingly given in, not having the heart to deny her friends of something they wished for more than anything. Amara had felt sick to her stomach, deceiving one with a heart so pure, but they _had_ to. They needed to do this. To prove to everyone that love conquers all, even when the odds are stacked against them.

Amara _deserved_ happiness, love, and everything that Qetsiyah had.

She deserved the love Silas bestowed upon her, deserved to live a life of freedom.

Silas hadn’t been able to look Gaia in the eye, since – an action gone unnoticed as the two witches had buried themselves in work and magic to create the Elixir.

So, Amara was going to do it for him.

Which brought Amara to _now_. She was going to tell the woman everything and hope that she had a way to prevent the wedding happening at all – to help them break the news to Qetsiyah, to be on _their_ side when the High Priestess would understandably become irrational and grow wicked at something in her _perfect_ life going so wrong.

Balancing the clay pot heavy with water on her hip familiarly, Amara split away from the giggling handmaidens and their exclamations of how beautiful the trellis erected for the wedding was, and instead made her way over to the loud laughter.

Gaia and Qetsiyah lounged in the opportune warm sun in klines, eating fresh fruit harvested from Gaia’s latest efforts. Amara paused at the beautifully crafted stairs within earshot, but still hiding behind a column, out of sight.

As the laughter subsided, Gaia let out a small sigh. “As much as I’d love to see Silas struggle with the workload that your father has planned for him in honour of his role as the future leader of this coven in an effort more Hades that Herculean, I am afraid I won’t be around for much longer.”

Qetsiyah’s smile dimmed immediately as she straightened, prior light-hearted nature subsiding in a heartbeat. “Whatever do you mean?”

“What I mean is that _you’re_ happy, and of course, Silas is happy, and as is everyone else-”

“But aren’t you too?” Her lady interrupted.

Gaia paused, eyes warm, though faltering. “Of course. I _am_ happy for you. But I do not wish to simply be happy in this life, I wish to be fulfilled. This town, this _coven._ This magic. It isn’t right for me.”

“But this magic, _your_ magic is unlike anything we’ve seen – it is the only reason the immortality spell was even possible - when we drew on your magic instead of nature-”

“It shouldn’t have been possible to begin with.” Gaia’s tone was heavy with regret as she interrupted firmly. “Don’t get me wrong, your happiness, Silas’ - it means the _world_ to me, but creating this Elixir feels as though I’ve betrayed the same nature that saved me countless times before – betrayed the Earth that comforted me at my lowest. It wasn’t right of me.”

“Then feel free to feel that way, but _stay,”_ Qetsiyah reached to hold both of Gaia’s hands in hers, eyes imploring. “Stay and be with us, _me._ You have grown to be a dear friend, and to see you go would sit heavy in my heart.”

“You’re not hearing me,” Gaia stood, gently detaching Qetsiyah's hands from hers and walking to the edge of her lady’s balcony to look at the bustling market below. “This was nice, stable; for Cael that is. But it stifles me. Just the other day Helga asked if I had entertained the thought of marrying her nephew yet.”

“Alesandros? The shepherd boy?” Humour filled Qetsiyah’s voice as she joined Gaia up on the raised platform. “He is nice, but I’m sure his physique would make up for his complete lack of personality. All he talks about is the weather when he visits to woo you.” Gaia shot her a contemptuous look, to which Qetsiyah smiled widely. “In fact, I do believe it to be the perfect match. I’m sure you could talk to his sheep if you were ever in want of better conversation.”

Gaia didn’t seem to share in her amusement as her mouth dipped grimly. “No, you don’t understand.” Her moss-green eyes narrowed as she shook her head in disbelief. “Why would I have ever thought you’d understand? You’ve been handed everything to you on a golden platter your entire life - how could I have ever hoped you’d understand the heavy thoughts burdening my mind?”

Her lady looked taken aback by her friend’s sudden outburst, but persisted, a hand on Gaia’s shoulder. “Tell me, please.”

Gaia hesitated. “Creating the Elixir with my magic – it felt wrong. It _all_ feels wrong. I’ve begun to have doubts about my powers – whether I truly deserve them. I feel guilt my every waking moment for drawing magic from nature for my on whims and gains.” Her voice dropped into a low confession. “I plan to stop. To give back to nature, to devote my life to it.”

“What do you mean stop?” Qetsiyah sounded worried for her friend. “You can’t stop, the village – it flourishes _because_ of you. If you refuse your services, my father…”

“Not even the coven’s High Priestess could stop me from being removed.” Gaia smirked dejectedly. “At least I won’t feel stifled anymore. I’ve thought of exploring the land - travelling, maybe.”

Qetsiyah shook her head slowly, looking worried for Gaia. “But what about Cael?”

“She’s just as irritable as usual. Her riddles tire me.” Gaia looked out at the town once more, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “She told me she’d be fine, told me that my fate was intertwined with that of the world. I chose to believe it means I am free to explore this world at will.”

Qetsiyah looked solemnly towards the sinking sun. “When do you leave?”

Gaia looked back to her apologetically. “When night falls, and your ceremony ends.” She hesitated, hand coming to reach for the bride-to-be with a million questions in her eyes, but she stopped herself with a sad smile.

“I am happy for you two, I truly am.”

There was no reply from her lady, so Amara leaned closer to hear better, then promptly stiffened as the heavy pot of water slipped from her grip in surprise when Gaia had exited in front of her. No doubt her guilty countenance caught Gaia’s sharp eye, but thankfully, the witch’s reflexes were sharper as she caught the water pot in mid-air using her magic seconds before it smashed to the ground.

Amara hurried to pick it up and balance it once more at her side securely while passing Gaia a low thankful bow. Gaia merely smiled kindly, though her eyes were suspicious at finding her with her ear pressed against Qetsiyah’s door.

“Enjoy the evening, Amara. I’ve heard that the festivities tonight will exceed all our expectations.”

Amara’s decision to tell Gaia everything had fled her mind as soon as she’d been caught – eyes wide like a deer, she could only manage a weak nod before hurrying past the witch.

Gaia watched her leave with a furrowed brow, before shaking her head to herself and walking away. 

-

The Salvatore kitchen smelt of strong coffee as Annalise sat down at the island with a low sigh. It had been a slow morning; one of those lazy ones where everything feels as though it’s in a relaxing haze. Only she didn't have the luxury of enjoying it. She’d bumped into Jeremy leaving for his morning run, gaze apologetic and worried about her illness from the day before, but she had reassured him that she was _completely_ fine.

Everything was fine.

If there was anything Lis was good at, it was denial.

All she needed to do was to get through today without thinking about the fact that she was wearing a thick jumper because her sigil had woken her up this morning, shining with silver light like Iron Man’s freaking Arc reactor.

Nope. She was completely normal. And _fine._

At least that’s what Annalise kept muttering to herself under her breath as she used a busy finger to quickly scan through her most recently acquired necromancy tome for any information on shining sigils. It was honestly a last-ditch attempt; all internet searches weren’t even remotely relevant, and all the witch forum offered were two things she already knew.

Sigils hadn’t been used in regular practice since the Salem trials, and that they only shone for a moment as the spell bound to the sigil activated.

Her sigil had been up and running for the last 4 hours, so she was willing to bet this wasn’t normal.

Annalise was jarred from her thoughts when three loud knocks sounded from the front door. Lis ignored it, seeing as she currently had bigger things to worry about. Someone else could get the door - it was high time the love birds upstairs got out of bed anyway. Shrugging to herself, Lis turned back to her tome and continued flicking through it rapidly.

The sound of the front door opening and shutting vaguely registered in the back of her mind, but Annalise still startled with a gasp when a feminine throat cleared beside her.

Lis; very aware that her tome was currently open to blood sacrifices, flipped it shut with a guilty slam.

Katherine gave her a suspicious look as she leaned against the kitchen doorway, eyes widening in what seemed like recognition when she saw the tome, before snapping back to her with a glare.

“Where the hell did you get that?”

“Katherine?” Annalise released a long exhale, taking her hand off her chest before tilting her head in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

The doppelganger straightened as she walked closer, still scowling warily. “ _Where_ did you get that from? Who did you talk to? Why do you hav-”

“I just stole it off some New Orleans witch, okay? Stop with the whole freaking interrogation thing.” Annalise crossed her arms defensively at Katherine's rapid-fire questioning. “I just needed to know more about the Other Side.”

Wait. Lis narrowed her own glare at Katherine. “Why so curious? What do you know about it?”

Katherine had relaxed through her explanation but grew rigid again as she voiced her concerns. “Nothing.”

Lis levelled her with a flat glare. “You know that only makes me _more_ suspicious of you, right?”

Katherine shrugged, dismissing it with a secretive smirk before moving closer and smiling winningly at her. Annalise leaned back in disgust. “What are you doing? I don’t like this.”

“Oh don’t be dramatic.” Katherine rolled her eyes. “You saved my life, so, as my new friend,” she delicately ignored Lis’ disgusted echo of “ _friend?!”_ and continued, “I wanted to ask you for a favour.”

Annalise sighed letting her head drop defeatedly into her hand before shooting her a dry glare. “You’re not leaving until I listen, are you?”

“Nope!” Katherine rounded the island until she was next to her, chirpy tone dropping into a more serious register. She almost seemed…worried. “I need you to heal me again, like you did a couple nights ago.”

Annalise frowned in confusion. “Are you hurt?”

“Not in the conventional sense.” Katherine turned her head slightly, angling her head to the sunlight better. A large section of silver hair hidden behind her ear caught the light, making Lis narrow her eyes at it.

“Well, that’s a bold choice, but you do…you?”

“That’s exactly it.” Katherine huffed, carding her hands through her hair in stress. Her hands came back with fallen stray hairs. “It’s not a choice.” The doppelganger now sounded urgent. “Fix me.”

“I- That’s not normal-”

“Yes, Get over it. I need you to fix it. Just a quick spell, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Sure." Annalise spoke slowly, chewing on her lip. "I can do a quick glamour. Cosmetic spells are easy to do. But that's like sticking a bandaid on cancer.” She sucked her teeth in concern as the doppelgänger started pacing. “Katherine...I think you’re ageing.”

“You think I’m ageing?” Katherine let loose a strained laughed loudly. “Good one. Glinda got jokes.” As Annalise’s mouth set grimly in response, and Katherine’s laugh tapered off as her expression fell. “You’re serious?”

Lis nodded squinting closer at her. “How else would you explain grey hair? The crow's feet?” Katherine looked aghast as her fingertips traced the light wrinkles at the corner of her eyes.

“Tumour? Blood clot?” She asked, sounding helpless and borderline hysterical. Annalise shook her head hesitantly, making Katherine’s glare flare up. “Then this is _your_ fault.” She gestured to herself. “You did something to me when you healed me, I’ve been feeling tired and achy since I woke up. You did this. Fix me, _now.”_

“No, no, Katherine, I promise, I- all I did was pull you back.” Annalise frowned, her eye catching on her tome, “But I think there’s something I can try. Witches have been doing longevity spells for decades, hell, Gloria was using _my_ magic to stay young.” Katherine nodded along desperately and placed her hands in Lis’ when she held them out. “I’ll try my best.”

Where their palms touched, a heat developed into a gradual warmth as Lis’ magic pooled in her hands, but it didn’t move into Katherine. Instead, the heat suddenly grew scalding the more she tried until Katherine sprang back with a pained yelp.

“You just burned me!”

“No, no I-” A cough erupted from her throat, a heaving one that left her gasping for breath. Katherine’s eyes were focused on her chest.

“So, you’ve got your own problems, huh?”

The sigil was now shining through her jumper, casting silver beams of light on to the brick wall behind Katherine. Annalise, keen to move the doppelgänger's attention elsewhere, crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “No.” She hesitated before amending, “Well, yes, but that’s not what went wrong. It’s like your body rejected magic. That didn’t happen before, when I healed you though, so why now?”

“Still questioning that decision, Peach.” Damon spoke up from behind Lis, smirking at Katherine, now glaring at him harshly over her shoulder. “But not as much anymore. The only thing better than watching the great Katherine Pierce die, is seeing her age, grow weak and old, and then die an old crone." He tilted his head, smugly strutting further into the kitchen. "Now, I thought that it’d take another fifty odd years, but it seems Christmas came early.”

Lis felt Elena appear behind her next to Damon, and Katherine’s glare worsened bitterly.

“I don’t need this.” Katherine scowled at Lis. “I don’t need _you._ I’ll figure it out myself.” She turned, walking away in a huff.

“Wait, I'll-” Lis called after her, but Katherine merely passed her back a glare.

“I think you’ve done enough.”

Fair enough. Annalise sighed, letting her shoulders hang dejectedly as she watched Katherine storm back out of the Boarding house, shutting the front door behind her with a slam. Turning, she narrowed her eyes at Damon. “That was mean. She’s obviously worried.”

“Good.” Elena exchanged a look with Damon, smiling vindictively.

“No, not good.” Annalise sighed, setting her empty cup in the kitchen sink. “She was fine when I healed her, and she deteriorated in a few days after getting the cure sucked out of her. I don’t know if it’s connected, but you said Silas was drained yesterday by Amara too, right?”

Damon frowned while Elena’s eyes widened. “He’s our only chance at getting Bonnie back, what if- what if he dies before we-”

“Then we sort this out. Today.” Damon cut in firmly, reassuring his girlfriend. “I need to go feed our prisoner, make sure she’s survived the night. Let’s hope that Silas still cares about Crazy enough to die for her.” He left, grabbing a yoghurt from the fridge, making way out and down the hallway to the basement door.

The girls looked at each other, realising they'd been left alone for the first time in...ages. Elena lingered awkwardly, hands in her pockets as she swung on the balls of her feet. “I-I should go too. And check on Stefan and Jer.”

“Oh, he uh…he left early. On a run. Jeremy.” Annalise rinsed her mug to give her fiddling hands something to do.

“Right. Thanks.” Elena nodded awkwardly before turning to walk away. Annalise released a small sigh of relief, but then found herself inhaling sharply when Elena shook her head, doubling back to face her once more. “No, no you know what? I hate this.” Annalise put the washed mug away on the drying rack as she turned to raise an eyebrow at Elena. The girl took that as a sign to continue. “You know, I- you reminded me of my aunt when I first met you. She was all soft smiles and warm hugs and I- I guess part of me expected you to put everything to the side and fight for us, for me. And when you didn’t, I felt hurt, and I said things to hurt you.”

Annalise crossed her arms with a slight frown, leaning back against the counter as Elena continued. “And then it seemed like I ruined everything, that you’d never fight for us and we were going to be on our own anyway, especially after Alaric died and everything was falling apart. I-”

“You killed Kol.” Annalise cut in, hard eyes digging into the faltering girl. “You killed my friend. Apologising about it, making excuses – it doesn’t make it hurt any less. You know that better than anyone else Elena.”

“I-I know.” Elena stepped forwards, eyes imploring. “I know, and if I could take it back, knowing that he was right all along, and my brother died because that decision, I would take it back in an instant. But I can’t, and instead of apologizing, or making things right with you, I saw you looking out for Bonnie, and I just put these expectations on you, _again,_ and I held you responsible for her death. But you’re still here, helping us. So, I not gonna apologize, and say I need your forgiveness, because I know that's selfish, that's for _me._ I just- I need you to be okay.”

Annalise stared at her for a long moment. The mousy young girl who had cowered in her grip now stood tall, defiant - stronger. She was sure of herself - could take care of herself instead of needing to be cared for. There was a hardness to Elena that Annalise hadn't taken the time to recognise; something like armour surrounding her...only instead of metal, Elena let her anger protect her and her loved ones.

Lis sighed, before shaking her head slightly. “I wasn’t okay. I’m not, _okay_.” Elena was trying, but there was a lump in her throat that made it harder for her words to come out. Something in her didn’t want to forgive the girl trying to make up for all the instances she’d felt like she’d _owed_ her something and failed. The longer she held her silence, the more Elena stiffened. She was no longer the girl that wanted everyone to be on her side, fighting for her. She could fight for herself. They’d both grown since the start, into something sharper and more wary. Lis didn't want to be sharp and wary, though. Not if she had a choice. Her tone grew gentler as she chose to reconcile. “But I think I will be. Ask me again tomorrow.”

Elena took it for what it was, an olive branch. She smiled brightly, before nodding, turning to leave for Stefan’s room to check on him.

Annalise’s lip curled downwards as she rubbed at her chest, staring out the window into the pristinely trimmed gardens beyond.

Her words had never felt so hollow.

-

Annalise was upstairs meditating in order to ignore her growing sense of foreboding – there was now a feeling of being pulled downwards by an unseen force, one like gravity but more...magically inclined. If she wasn’t concentrating on keeping calm, the timber beneath her felt as though it might just crack from the weight on her shoulders.

She startled when Damon knocked on her door, tone heavy. “We need you downstairs.”

“You look like you found out someone was dead." Annalise stood hurriedly to follow him, already on his way down the hallway. "Please don’t tell me someone else died.”

“Nope. Silas called.” Damon scowled over his shoulder as he led her down to the living room where everyone had gathered. “He’s refusing to help get Bonnie back.”

“ _Fuck,_ why isn’t anything just easy for once.”

“No, it is.” Elena was nodding her head convincingly, answering Lis as they reached the living room. “We need to buy more time, to protect Amara. Maybe we should move her somewhere else.”

Damon disagreed, crossing his arms as he leant back on the sofa. “Silas is a witch. He’s a living breathing, GPS. He’ll track her wherever we take her. Plus, he didn’t seem that concerned for her safety.”

“Well, seems like more reason to no let him anywhere near her until he brings back Bonnie.” Elena defended. 

“Aren’t you listening to anything?” Stefan piped up from in front of the window tiredly, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “You heard the man; he’s _not_ going to bring her back.” Stefan frowned.

Everyone exchanged a worried glance at Stefan's lack of usual optimism before Elena stepped up. “So, what, I should just give up?” She shook her head in disappointment as she moved closer. “Come on, Stefan, you got your memory back. You probably know me better than anyone else. Do you really think I’m gonna give up?”

“You know what?” He shrugged blithely. “You’re right. I do know you. You put your hope in all the wrong places, and sometimes the wrong people.” His eyes flicked to Damon who looked away uncomfortably. Annalise wished they’d sorted out their differences before they’d invited her into the room as she shifted uncomfortably. Thankfully, Stefan turned back to Elena as he continued. “Silas needs to die and put us all out of our misery.”

Elena shook her head stubbornly. “So long as he’s alive, I’m holding out hope he can still help us.”

Stefan scowled. “Well, as someone who just spent the last three months at the bottom of a quarry because of the guy, I wouldn’t hold your breath. Pun intended.” He straightened, moving to leave. “Silas needs to die, and I need to be the one to kill him, end of story.”

“Well, that sounds awfully familiar.” Annalise stepped in his way, making him pause, narrowing his gaze at her. “I remember warning you from going down an equally awful dark path right here not too long ago, and you regretted it the instant you did.” Lis sighed as Stefan hesitated defensively, softening her voice. “Stefan, we’ve come a long way since then. You’ve just gone through one horrifyingly traumatic thing to the next. Just, take a moment and deal with it instead of returning to your self-destruct default.”

Stefan’s scowl deepened despite her supportive tone. “Look I get that we’re like friends now, but you don’t _know_ me, okay?” He moved past her, heading for the front door. “Silas needs to die.”

Annalise exchanged a glance with Damon as Stefan slammed the door shut behind them, but before they could continue, Jeremy skidded into the living room, almost tripping in his hurry. “Guys, guys I have an idea.”

“I need to be drunk for this.” Damon immediately stood, rolling his eyes as he moved to pour himself some bourbon from the nearby decanter. Jeremy gave him an annoyed look before proceeding.

“I was giving Amara her lunch, and she saw Bonnie, and Bonnie could touch her.” Annalise straightened, eyes widening. Jeremy nodded enthusiastically at her in confirmation - _she understood_. “They made physical contact. It’s like Amara’s got a foot in each side or something.”

Elena frowned. “Amara exists in both places at once? Here and the Other Side?”

Annalise stood, silently floored by the possibility of Bonnie being able to do the same, as Damon smirked in realisation. “Then she’s not crazy-crazy talking to thin air, she’s just talking to dead supernatural beings roaming around in our basement.”

Jeremy shook his head, annoyed they weren’t making the connection that Lis already had. “The point is if Silas isn’t going to help us, what if Bonnie could be the same thing? What if she existed on both sides at once? What if she became the anchor?”

“It would work.” Annalise spoke up. “Wait a sec.” She teleported up to her room out of habit, and as she teleported back almost too easily, she lost her balance, catching herself on the back of the couch. A wet cough broke out of her throat, bringing more behind it, each worse than the one before. This was worse than the cough from earlier that morning. Something was lodged in her throat.

Someone patted her back as she gasped during the brief reprieve between the coughs, but she couldn’t concentrate.

Her palm came up to cup her mouth as something dislodged from her throat.

“That…doesn’t look healthy.” Annalise took in ragged breaths to recover as Damon spoke up. Jeremy sent him an acidic glare as Lis still looked down at the dark sediment her cough deposited in her hand.

Elena spoke up worriedly next to her. “It doesn’t smell like blood.”

“No, worse.” Annalise spoke hoarsely. “It’s dirt.”

Shocked silence permeated the air until..."Well, that’s terrifying.” She wiped her hand on the tissue Jeremy provided her with while sighing at Damon’s lack of tact.

“Look, don’t worry about it; I’m dealing with it.” Choosing not to address it further, she opened her tome on the right page. “This book said something about the Anchor. How every spirit has to pass through it to get to the Other Side. It doesn’t mention anything about transferring that power, though, just says it might overwhelm the Anchor from time to time after interacting with death so much.”

“Well, I suppose we could always go to the person who created the spell.” Elena squeezed Lis’ shoulder gently. “Maybe we could convince her to heal Lissie’s too.”

Damon threw his gaze upwards, almost begging. “Oh, please don’t say what you’re about to say.”

“Looks like we’re gonna have to pay a visit to our resident woman scorned.”

-

“You look beautiful.”

Qetsiyah stood in the waning twilight, illuminated warmly by the torches around her as flames reflected off her silver linen draped wedding dress. Gaia walked further into the room, with a small smile as Qetsiyah shot her a nervous grin after turning to her. “Well, at least you seem to have made an effort too tonight. Maybe leaving after the festivities would be a good idea, Alesandros would not be able to keep his eyes off you. You’re breathtaking Gaia.”

Gaia looked down as a faint blush rose on her brown cheeks, swishing the festive red chiton cinched at her waist by a thick belt. Grinning, she lifted her skirts the slightest amount to show her feet. “Look, I even wore sandals tonight.”

Qetsiyah snorted before promptly dissolving into giggles muffled behind her hand. Gaia tried to look affronted by her incredulity, but soon joined in, chuckling softly. Once Qetsiyah caught her breath once more, she sighed happily as she settled back on her vanity, starting to fix her hair in the concave bronze mirror in front of her. “You know, I wanted to thank you. The nerves I seemed to be feeling seem to have disappeared.”

“I’m glad.” Gaia wandered closer, moving to help Qetsiyah pin up her curls and place flowers gently in her hair. “Where are your hand-maiden?”

“I sent them away for the night.” Qetsiyah rolled her eyes with insult. “Amara was beyond blundering today, nearly scalding me with her hot bath; her mind is worlds away today. And the rest were just as useless as normal. Honestly, it’s a wonder they get anything done. My father would’ve had them whipped for their insult.”

Gaia’s smile had become strained as she’d begun a single braid along the crown of Qetsiyah’s head. “Well, it’s a good thing you are not your father then, my lady. I’m sure they only look forwards to the festivities tonight.”

Qetsiyah looked at her reflection through the polished mirror, turning in her grasp. “You must think me spoilt.”

Gaia huffed in amusement. “And you must think me wild and uncivilised. What an unlikely pair we make.” Her eyes lingered as did her hands in Qetsiyah’s curly hair, but the bride-to-be stood abruptly, breaking their prolonged eye contact.

“Silas. Have you visited him tonight? Does he seem worried to you? Like me?”

Gaia had once more moved a respectful distance away from the High-Priestess, no longer meeting her gaze. “I would know if I met him, my lady, but he has managed to evade me all day.” Qetsiyah’s gaze fell to the floor unsurely, so Gaia was quick to reassure her. “I mean to say, his devotion truly shows in how he wishes to spend eternity with you. You will not meet a man better than my best friend. You are…perfect,” Gaia’s tone shifted into something more bitter. “And so is he. You love each other. And I am so incredibly sorry to say that I envy it.”

Qetsiyah unsurely approached Gaia with a small smile. “Well, maybe if you chanced Alesandros instead of leaving-”

“Stop, my lady, I do not wish to-”

“Gaia, please. If you’d just stop and think about this instead of running away,” Qetsiyah reached for her defensive friend. “Don’t run, don’t leave, just _stay_ and you will gain his love and be _happy_ -”

“ _But it isn’t his love I desire!”_ Gaia’s eyes looked terrified as they watered, hands cupped at her mouth, looking as though she wanted to pull back the words she’d spoken.

“Who's do you desire then? Do you envy me?” Qetsiyah’s gaze had become flinty as she broke the deafening silence. “Do you mean to say that you love Silas? Is that why you’ve paraded falsely as my one friend, my closest ally? Was this all a ploy to get him to love _you?”_

“No, no you don't understand. I envied _him,_ Qetsiyah.” Gaia shook her head, tears finally falling as she intoned lowly as the witch stepped back, eyes wide with shock as she continued. “The time I spent with you – every moment I cherished like no other memory, I found myself wishing for more time with you. I know tonight’s your wedding night but it’s not too late-”

“But you’re leaving,” Qetsiyah was shaking her head numbly, still trying to process Gaia’s desperate words, “and I’m in love with Silas-”

“Are you?” Gaia approached her, grasping Tessa’s hands tightly as she implored. “Do you feel this electricity run through your hands when I hold them? Does your heart beat this fast when you’re with him like it does when you’re with me? Do you laugh freely in Silas’ presence as you do in mine? Tell me, darling, are you _truly happy_ marrying him?”

“But Silas is your friend-” Tessa swallowed heavily, “Why would you do this?”

“Because as much as I love my friend, my brother; I know his heart, and I know not why, but it doesn’t belong solely to you.” Gaia shook her head, eyes convincing. “He does not love you, not the way I do, Tessa, please-”

 _“No, stop!”_ Qetsiyah seemed to have collected herself, jerking away from Gaia’s touch. “This love, _your_ love is not _natural, not right,_ just like you. The elders were right in wanting to shun you. You have bewitched me, made me feel for you things I don’t even feel for Silas, despite the fact that he’s my one true love-”

“No, Tessa, I-”

“Leave!” Qetsiyah looks at her with acidic anger in her veins. “I am marrying Silas tonight, and he will know of your grave betrayal. Leave, leave this town, my coven this instant. And take your unnatural desires with you.” Gaia sniffled silently, tears leaving tracks down her defeated expression. She flinched when Tessa raised her voice once more. “LEAVE!”

Gaia blinked hopelessly before straightening and settling her face into a blank and hollow expression, bowing formally before leaving the room in a composed swish.

She didn’t see Qetsiyah collapse into her chair with a wounded cry.

-

Qetsiyah opened her door, looking unimpressed as Damon greeted her with a sarcastic smirk, waving while Lis stood rigidly next to him on her porch. Damon threw an arm around Lis’ shoulders as he smiled winningly at the two millennia-old witch. “I was hoping we could talk.”

“And I was hoping you were my Chinese food.” Qetsiyah moved to the side to swing the door shut in their faces brusquely. “Goodbye.”

Damon’s other hand stopped the door in its tracks, smile remaining unmoved on his face. “You remember Amara, right? Brunette, brown eyes, I’m surprisingly _not_ in love with her?”

“Wow; really fits her to a T.” Annalise rolled her eyes as Damon shot her a flat glare. 

Tessa narrowed her eyes as they flicked between the pair, unamused. “What about her?”

Turning, she walked inwards. After an exchanged glance, Damon and Lis followed, Lis shrugged Damon’s arm off her annoyedly as he spoke. “Well, she took the cure, she wants to die, and we have her.”

“But she’s alive?” Tess’s eyes brightened as Damon nodded smugly.

“For now.” Damon shrugged. “Silas is literally on his way to kill her. He’s completely obsessed with destroying the Other Side so that he and Amara can live in the great beyond.” Pausing, his eyes flicked to Lis in concern as another round of coughs erupted from her throat before continuing. “Anyway, man, you were right about these doppelgangers. They do always end up together, right? History repeating and all. We should stop it, and Lissie here’s happy to help, so, uh…just heal her up and we’ll be on our way to plan our sweet, sweet revenge on Silas.”

Tessa’s gaze lingered on Annalise’s as she nodded slightly. “Tell me your idea first.” She turned away from Lis abruptly, unable to meet her narrowed gaze. It might be because Tessa held remorse and guilt for what she’d done to Lis, but that didn’t matter now. Lis had been preparing to fight tooth and nail for her life the night before after Tess’s grim promise and now…even more so. She kept her face inexpressive as Tess ushered them to the small table to the side, placing two mugs in front of them.

Damon took her silence as the cue to speak as he leant against the ratty couch in the musty hunting cabin. “So, here’s my pitch. To keep the Other Side in place, you need something to anchor the spell; something powerful – like an _immortal-being_ -powerful. Now, Amara was obviously a great choice until she downed the cure.” Tess nodded along, pouring hot tea into their mugs as Damon continued to speak. “So, would you consider someone who’s dead, but stuck on the Other Side a viable candidate?”

“An anchor swap?” Tess seemed interested, but she smirked almost fondly at Annalise as she sniffed at her tea. “Don’t worry, no lobelia this time. Just honey and lemon for your throat.”

Lis sent her a small nod, but still set her tea firmly aside as she spoke. “We want you to transfer the power of the anchor to a ghost. The Other Side remains intact, Amara just human and Silas a witch. Everyone gets what they want.”

Tess raised an eyebrow cynically. “I’d be making a ghost a human toll booth between our side and the Other Side, giving her the power to interact with our physical world and the supernatural purgatory simultaneously.”

“Why do you say that like you have problem?” Damon’s smirk dropped.

“The problem is,” Annalise interrupted knowingly, “she needs a huge source of power to draw on – there’s no celestial activity happening for another couple weeks, and knowing what we know now, Silas and Amara might not survive that long.” She leant forwards, elbows on the table, looking directly in Qetsiyah’s eyes. “But I’m not a quitter, and I knew this coming here. I want you to channel me.”

Damon shook his head immediately, pulling at her arm. “That wasn’t in the plan, Peach. Stick to the freaking plan.”

“Well, it’s either that, or she draws on the next best thing – which is the collective power of doppelgangers in the vicinity.”

“But,” Tessa’s brow furrowed uncomfortably as she appeared to want to deny her idea.

“But nothing.” Annalise cut in firmly. “Sure, the doppelgangers are powerful, but you need more magic to bind an Anchor, much more than they have – especially now that Katherine’s dying and Amara’s mortal. I’ve got more than enough magic to spare. Plus, since you didn’t suffer any side-effects of going against nature yourself to create the Immortality spell, I’m willing to bet you used Gaia’s blood too.”

“You do have enough to spare.” The witch acquiesced grudgingly. “And I did use Gaia’s blood to bind Amara too, I just- The way your magic is now…”

“Well then work around it.” Annalise crossed her arms, glaring at the witch coldly.

“Fine,” Tess tilted her head, considering her idea while looking away guiltily. “Your magic is too…volatile for me to use. It’s like an element in its purest form, needs to be…stabilised, cancelled out, by dark magic.” The witch sighed tiredly. “You have a solution for that?”

“Yeah, yeah I think I do. I wish I didn’t.” Annalise rubbed her forehead before nodding. “Yeah, an old medallion. You can channel that.”

“I can work with that.” Tessa nodded hesitantly, “Where should we do this?”

“Needs to be someplace Bonnie feels connected to, something she associates with her death, and therefore her life before it.” Annalise straightened as she spoke, checking her phone before turning to Damon. “Grab Amara, help Tess prepare what she needs to, then take her to the clearing where we had Bonnie’s funeral. I’m gonna go grab the medallion.”

Damon gave her unsure look, grabbing her arm as she made to walk past him. “Hey, you sure about this? You’re not looking so good, Peach.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Annalise’s expression tightened. “I’ve spent the last three months looking for a way to get Bonnie back. I’m not leaving anything to chance.”

“But what about you wanting to bring Kol back for longer, huh?” Damon squinted at her with guarded suspicion. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did a quick switcheroo between him and Bonnie – bring him back while you forsake her. It’s what I would do.”

“Well then,” Annalise hissed at him acidly, “It’s a good fucking thing I’m not _you.”_

Damon studied her hard gaze before dipping his head slightly and letting her go – Annalise looked back to see Tess looking at her in the same strange manner as the night before – in a sad, but nostalgic way.

Annalise scowled at her too. This was all her fault.

Lis was moving to New Orleans after this mess was over, and she couldn’t wait to relax in the calming nature of old magic travelling slowly through its time-worn cobblestone streets of the French Quarter. Passing the pair behind her one last look, she shrugged her denim jacket closer to protect her from the crisp autumn breeze and started walking in the direction of the Mikaelson Mansion.

-

The ceremony was in short, beautiful. Low sounds of harps and lyres played a joyful tune as the coven talked in hushed voices anticipating the event that would be the talk of the town for months to come. Two of their own most powerful practitioners were to marry, and surely, this would be the greatest joining of the decade.

Gaia swallowed heavily as she took the sight in, smudged kohl-rimmed eyes taking in the beautiful trellis she and Tessa had built together, large white lilies framing the beautiful isle to the podium where an expansive garden, courtesy of her, had been bloomed especially for this union. Leonidas, Tessa’s father, was already on the raised platform, proudly looking out at his coven with the Elixir and the goblet of Union in front of him on a raised dais.

It was time.

Her heart felt broken, all calcified, heavy and cracking as she saw Tessa’s wedding procession enter in time to the rhythmic tune of the wedding tune – Tessa veiled in her bridal garb looking so _so_ ethereal in the dusk light of the sinking sun.

As the bride climbed on to the dais, the coven exploded in applause – Leonidas smiled proudly, raising his hands joyfully to light the large pyres arranged in a circle around them, situated between pillars that reached for the night sky grandly.

“Tonight, we celebrate the union of my daughter, and her love.” Gaia thought it must have been a trick of the light to have seen Tessa’s head move towards her position for a mere moment as her father continued. “For eons we have been powerful, _the_ most powerful coven to ever exist. We have never shied away from the dark because we do not fear it!” The crowd rand with cheers and applause as Leonidas raised his hand, asking for silence. “Our magic has and always will be an Expression of ourselves, of our wills, and _tonight,”_ His voice rang out heavily, “Tonight we see nature bend to _our_ will. We say our farewell to my daughter’s mortality. We say farewell to _death!”_

Gaia swallowed guiltily as the white willows around her stirred in the unnatural breeze as the coven whooped and hollered in joy. This wasn’t normal.

She regretted _ever_ setting foot in this godforsaken coven, the coven that exploited her powers, the same coven she’d offered immortality to _just to impress a woman._

This was not worth it.

Her heart leapt to her throat. Gaia couldn’t let this happen.

This was an abomination of all things natural – how on Earth had she been convinced to hand her power over to a power-hungry coven in the form of a _wedding gift?!?_ How blinded by love had she been to see the error in her ways?

She couldn’t let this happen. Taking a deep breath of determination, Gaia started elbowing her way through the crowds as Leonidas raised the goblet in the air victoriously. “So, join me, my brothers, my sisters, in congratulating my beloved daughter Qetsiyah, and her betrothed, Silas in their passage to holy matrimony, and immortality!”

The cheers rang louder than ever as Leonidas raised his arm towards the archway through which Silas would enter.

“ _Stop this!”_ Gaia broke through the front of the crowd just as the cheers subsided into confusion.

Silas wasn’t here.

“You!” Leonidas pointed an accusing finger in her direction. “What is the meaning of this farce? Where is my daughter’s intended?”

“I-” Gaia’s voice caught as she met Qetsiyah’s confused eyes through her veil. “I don’t know, my lord.” Instead, she swallowed heavily looking back to the coven leader. “All I know is that I cannot allow this grave insult towards nature to occur.”

“You possess the _nerve to-”_

“Father.” Qetsiyah’s voice broke through Leonidas’ outraged yell, drawing their attention to the wedding lily in her hands – it was withering away.

Gaia watched, eyes wide as all of a sudden, all the vines around them shrivelled, beautiful flowers hanging from the trellis browned and blackened and fell on to the ground in hollowed husks, and the entire garden smelt rotting, dead.

The world, and it’s magic… _shuddered._

“You dare do this here?!” Leonidas was off the platform in an instant, walking towards Gaia as he roared in fury. “The coven has seen you and your unnatural ways of the wild for the last time - if you do not return the Garden to its former glory this instant, I will have you banished along with your _useless little bitch of a sister.”_

A choke escaped his mouth next, as Gaia held one hand extended in his direction in front of her – expression deathly calm. “One more word about my sister from you and I tear out your _pathetic_ little tongue.”

“ _Gaia,_ let him _go!”_

“Worry not, my lady,” Gaia’s glare didn’t leave Leonidas even as she allowed him to fall weakly to his knees chocking for air. Qetsiyah rushed to her father’s side defensively, rubbing at his back. “I will not stand for his false accusations and pitiful insults any longer. I will gladly leave this coven at once.”

“No, I apologise for my father’s actions.” The coven watched on in rapt attention as Qetsiyah raised her veil and looked towards Gaia with tears in her eyes. “I know you were not behind this. We, _you,_ bound the immortality spell to the garden around us, to my magic, so when Silas and I drank the Elixir together, the flowers would brighten and bloom. This,” she picked up a handful of rotted dry flowers in her palm, “ _this_ means that Silas drank the Elixir somewhere else. With _someone_ else.” Her words turned bitter as she helped her father stand, looking at the pair of girls in confusion. “He took what he wanted, and the bastard betrayed us. Both of us.” Qetsiyah approached closer to her as Gaia studied her carefully. “I only ask you this. Help me find Silas. Help me understand _why._ You deserve an explanation just as much as I do.”

Silence lingered in the clearing before Gaia nodded her head just once, then twirled on her feet to walk into the woods, looking back only once to send a hateful look towards a gob-smacked Leonidas once more.

Qetsiyah looked to her father in disgust, before picking up her skirts and following behind Gaia immediately.

Leonidas looked around him at the townsfolk now looking at him in various expressions of disrespect and discomfort, whispering behind their hands as their eyes stayed stuck on their leader now fallen from the high pedestal he had once coveted.

His vision burned red in anger and embarrassment. “What are you looking at?! The ceremony is over, so _leave!”_

The wedding ceremony dispersed, still muttering between themselves as Leonidas heaved in anger in the middle of the dais in fury.

-

Gaia exhaled sharply in frustration before sitting down on a moss-covered rock, hefting her skirt up to her knees and yanking her sandals of with a scowl. The torch Qetsiyah held illuminated the rosy hue her cheeks had taken as she’d whipped her head the other way in a scandalised manner.

Gaia didn’t notice, sighing in relief as her toes sunk into the cold dirt of the forest path once more. “What are you looking for?” She shot Qetsiyah a confused look before squinting in the direction the witch had been looking at.

Qetsiyah cleared her throat before shaking her head vigorously. “No reason.” Her voice came across unconvincingly high, making Gaia study her unsurely. Flustered, Qetsiyah turned away, looking toward the direction they were walking in as she cleared her throat once more, hoping now her voice was back to normal. “Are you sure Silas lies this way?”

“Yes.” Gaia sighed with a singular nod. “Though I hate to think what could have happened for him to come this deep into the woods. I hope he isn’t hurt.”

They started walking once more, silent for a while before Qetsiyah interrupted it unsurely. “And if he isn’t?” Gaia turned to Qetsiyah worriedly as the witch kept her gaze trained ahead, eyes nearly tearing up. “If you were right, and Silas does not love me…”

“…the way I do?” Gaia completed Tessa’s faltering sentence, and the witch looked at her with wide eyes, vulnerable and scared about the way she seemed to feel. Gaia shook her head, tearing her gaze away. “Thinking like that would not do you any help, m’lady. After I attacked your father, after what he said – there’s no chance that me and my sister would remain here willingly another night longer.” Gaia gave her friend a sad smile. “We would not have worked in two millennia, let alone this one. I have to have trust in my best friend, as do you, and hope Silas did what he did for an honourable reason.”

“You’re right.” Qetsiyah’s tone sounded as though she was trying to convince herself more than agreeing with Gaia’s statement. “You’re right, Silas loves me, and I- I love him and everything’s going to be fine.” Qetsiyah looked towards her unsurely. “This is all just a misunderstanding, isn’t it?”

She sounded so helpless and vulnerable that Gaia found herself having no choice but to nod her head supportively and smile hollowly at her love. “Yes. Of course. A misunderstanding.”

Torchlight flickered in the distance drawing their attention; raising a finger to her lips, Gaia led the way through the rocks and dry branches towards the tent erected in the middle of a large clearing – there were no sounds of struggle coming from the inside.

Wait, no.

There was movement.

Gaia quickly ushered Qetsiyah behind a copse of trees, both peering through the branches as someone – a lady dressed in purple with a veil covering her face, stepped through the entrance of the tent, followed closely by Silas.

Gaia’s chest hurt at the betrayal that shone on Qetsiyah’s face, and the disappointment towards her best friend as Silas lovingly reached out to the woman in handmaiden garb – so familiar…

Amara.

Gaia didn’t know how she felt as she watched Silas cup Amara’s face lovingly while they spoke lowly to each other; she’d caught the glances between the pair as Silas had courted Qetsiyah, but she’d never thought-

She was happy for Silas, in one sense, but greatly disappointed in his character the next.

Disappointed in him, even betrayed that he had lied to her, tricked her into creating something that went against the very being of nature then using it selfishly.

Qetsiyah wavered next to her, but when Gaia looked at her, her face was twisted into a hateful expression of loathing and hate. Bitter vindictiveness. “Qetsiyah?” Gaia whispered to her friend, but the expression quickly wiped away from her face as she turned to Gaia.

“We make a cure.” Qetsiyah drew closer to Gaia, smiling in an almost unhinged manner. “We make the cure, and we force them to take it. We make them suffer the consequence of their actions.”

“And what exactly might those consequences be?” Gaia questioned unsurely – no matter what he’d done – Silas was her best friend, her self-proclaimed family. And, well, the dangerous glint to Qetsiyah’s eyes certainly wasn’t helping.

“No, no, you and I need not worry about him, about _them. Silas and Amara.”_ Qetsiyah hissed hatefully, still smiling as she reached to clutch at Gaia’s shoulders. “I should have known this would happen – father always did say you could take pity on a commoner, but you could never wash away their _filth.”_

Gaia’s brows raised at the venom in her voice, growing truly unsettled in the manner Qetsiyah’s eyes trailed after Amara. “Uh…my lady, as much as your father has uh… _such a lovely_ way with words,” Gaia’s strained smile dropped, “I don’t think-”

Qetisyah cut her off, clutching Gaia’s hands tightly. “They are not our problem because we will run away, you and I- we can travel the world as you wished. We can reverse this perverse insult to the world by curing the filth, teaching them a lesson they won’t ever forget, then leave all this behind and forget our responsibilities-”

“My lady I don’t believe you are in the right mind to make any such decisions now-”

“Isn’t this what you _wanted_? To reverse your insult to nature?!” Came Qetsiyah’s desperate plea. “Please, just help me make the cure. We need to make the cure.”

Gaia’s lips tightened into a flat line for a few moments, studying Tessa’s frantic expression before nodding quietly.

“As you wish, my lady.”

-

Gaia winced as she walked further through the underbrush following the trail Silas had left as she rubbed at her sore palm. In order to counter the effects of the Immortality Elixir – a large component of which was her own blood – Gaia had cut her palm to provide Qetsiyah with two more vials of her blood for the cure.

She thought back grimly to the events of the night – spending the rest of her life with Tessa was all she dreamed of, hell, was more that she thought she would ever receive, but _everything_ about the way she got what she wanted made her feel horrible.

Tessa was most probably out of her mind – there was no way the prim and proper High Priestess she knew would ever even mention shirking her responsibilities.

This wasn’t her love.

Right now, she was unstable, and it felt as though only one person could maybe talk her down. And it was a truly terrible idea to have. Silas would have to beg her for forgiveness and hope enough of Tessa would be merciful to spare the both of them. And Gaia would have to pray her lady would be strong enough to heal and forgive her best friend.   
  


A branch cracked behind her and as Gaia turned to inspect it, she missed a large shadow loom up from her side, pushing her hard against the trunk of a tree.

She shot her assailant a dry look. “Really, Silas?”

Silas appeared shocked, then stepped back immediately, apologies spilling from his mouth before he paused. “What are you doing here?”

Gaia scowled at him. “Better question is why is the groom conspicuously not at his own damned wedding?”

“I-I,” Silas floundered for an excuse, and Gaia just pushed at his chest hard in disappointment.

“Look at you, lost for words. Let me help.” She crossed her arms. “Hello, Gaia. Funny story. I spent 3 moon cycles trying to court a good noble girl falsely only so I could fall in love with her handmaid and trick my best friend into going against _everything_ in her being and making an Immortality Elixir, and hurt my actual bride; _you,”_ she punched him in the shoulder, “ _fucking,”_ the chest, “ _dick.”_ Silas gasped, winded as she punched him in his stomach, hard.

He straightened again with a chuckle. “Gaia, I understand your disappointment, but Qetsiyah – she deserves everything.” His voice turned insistent. “She is beautiful, yes, and kind, sometimes, but she is a _noble._ She looks down on me, on everyone. She doesn’t understand us, having to fight every day for our _lives,_ for recognition- Amara is nothing like that. When she gives, she gives with all her heart, and her heart is nothing but kind, warm and loving.” Silas clutched at her shoulders tight as he smiled breathlessly. “Gaia, I love her. I love her so much it hurts. This was all so Qetsiyah doesn’t hurt Amara when our secret got out – she’s dangerous and I fear-”

“She won’t. Surely she- She won’t.” Gaia hesitated, remembering the darkness of Qetsiyah’s unsettling grin.

Silas’ smile dropped. “What do you mean?”

Gaia looked at him worriedly. “We were looking for you, when you didn’t turn up at the wedding, but the Immortality spell still took place, I- _we,_ saw you and Amara together. She’s making a cure as we speak.”

All of a sudden, she felt her magic just _drain_ as she stumbled, white filling her vision. Silas had gripped her almost immediately in worry, and badgered her with questions the second she recovered.

“What was that? What happened? Are you well?”

“Yes, yes, Silas. I’m alright.” Gaia passed him scared look as he helped her right herself before frowning, rubbing at her chest. “I believe Qetsiyah just drew upon my blood and magic for her cure, but…something feels wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“Like…” Gaia faltered, “like she used…more than necessary. She used so much more than just making two cures.”

Silas’ face grew ashen, before he promptly turned, hurrying in the direction of the tent. Gaia ran, wincing as she rushed over sharp pebbles to keep up. “Qetsiyah won’t hurt you, her, like that. She said you would only have to suffer your actions, and, in her defence, you did truly do her wrong-”

“Why are you defending her?” Stefan stopped suddenly with a scowl. “Why are you defending that-that _witch?_ I understand that you are her friend, but… _”_ Silas trailed off when Gaia looked away guiltily, not meeting his eyes.

Comprehension dawned grimly on his face. “You love her. _She’s_ the woman you said you loved, isn’t she?” Tears that filled his eyes glinted in the moonlight as she nodded smally, and he ran a distressed hand through his hair, almost speaking to himself. “You told me you loved a woman in confidence, but you refused to tell me her name, not out of fear nor shame, but because you thought I was in love with her.” Silas ran a hand over his eyes before looking at his best friend, horrified. “You gave up your true happiness for me, without knowing that I was tricking her into loving me all along – I am a repulsive person, I understand if you hate me-”

“I don’t.” Gaia shook her head, moving closer to him sincerely. “You didn’t know I loved her.” She moved to hug him tightly. “But I still love you. I will help you deal with anything that endangers you, brother.”

Silas returned her hug tightly before moving back, with a small smile. “We must get back to Amara, she must meet you, fully, as my wife, and not as a handmaiden. Come, let’s go.”

Gaia gave him a brief smile as they started hurrying towards the tent once more.

Maybe there was hope yet.

-

The walk to the mansion had never felt so long – the path seemed almost unfamiliar when dressed in the warm burnt oranges and yellows of Autumn.

It had been a while since she’d come home. A vague remembrance of a stone here, and a branch there told her that she’d walked this track multiple times before, the most memorable being that one time with Mindy, the day she died. Lis swallowed heavily when she remembered the spirits of Alex and Mindy visiting her, warning her away before it was too late…now she almost wished she heeded their warning.

There was this feeling in her chest, in her throat, like something was going to consume her whole – the foreboding feeling she’d felt as she’d first entered Mystic Falls was back full strength and it felt as though she was standing on a cliff’s precipice with ferocious waves beating into the rocks beneath her.

With a shaky exhale, she focused on walking faster – she couldn’t afford to lose focus now. The chill of the fresh breeze sank into her bones, but she welcomed it, pulling her warm jacket closer around her as she found it easier to concentrate on the environment around her.

The wind rumpled and rustled the crisp leaves off the bare branches of the trees, while her eyes trailed after the fire-red leaf that floated merrily in the playful breeze.

The breeze that smelled of damp leaves and…strongly of smoke.

Annalise startled as the sense of foreboding grew so overwhelming that she was found it hard to breathe. Her feet sped up of their own accord, breaking into a jog then a sprint in the direction of the heavy plume of smoke rising out of the horizon.

Her desperate gasps filled her ears along with her rushing blood when her mounting dread crested as she skidded to a stop.

Annalise couldn’t stop the torn gasp of pain that escaped her.

The grand house she’d once called home crumbled loudly, the roof collapsing into a pile of ashen rubble as it kicked more dark plumes of smoke into the air. The large windows had all cracked and splintered as the bright flames reflected off them and onto her glasses.

Another heavy rumble shook the ground as Annalise watched, mouth silently open in distress as the entire south wall just collapsed to ruin. Sparks of flames flew into the air, catching onto the overgrown hedges below, sending them blazing up in flames, a bitter mockery of torches.

Remnants of the grand staircase remained, standing only a couple feet taller, leading to mid-air as the second floor had already collapsed into the ground.

It was beyond saving.

“Beautiful, isn’t it.”

Annalise, shell-shocked with tears streaming tracks down her cheeks turned slowly to her right. Silas’ eyes widened, but a cruel smile curled at his lips.

“Now, now. Oh, I didn’t think I’d reduce you to tears.” He tilted his head mockingly. “I know you were clearly sentimental about this place, but honestly, how much can someone really love 20th century plasterwork?” He chuckled loudly before tapering off with a pleased sigh. “Though I did find the ballroom tasteful – not nearly enough any of those in this day and age. Classy.”

“Why?” Annalise felt the smouldering fire suddenly burn louder with a _roar_ in response to her more reactive magic, _fuck, no-_ but her further distress only made the fire burn brighter, razing down the walls and engulfing them mercilessly.

“I wanted you to hurt.” His voice sounded strangely sombre as he explained. “Because you weren’t there when I realised Amara was alive, and you weren’t there when Amara stabbed me in the neck with a piece of glass and drained me because she wanted to die.” Silas moved until he was shoulder to shoulder with her, both watching the once grand and towering architecture crumble pathetically to the ground. Annalise stared at him, tears still running down her face as he continued. “I missed my best friend.”

Her voice caught in her throat, coming out wretched and broken. “I’m no-t your friend, Silas.”

Silas looked at her long and hard, almost studying her teary brown eyes - searching for something that wasn't there.

“...No, you’re not.” He shook his head, looking regretful about that fact, before his normal cheeky smile returned to his lips once more. “That’s what made this so much easier. I wasn’t even expecting a fun treasure hunt, but I’m definitely not complaining.” Annalise noticed Silas had both his hands held resolutely behind his back as he turned away from the collapsing house to face her fully. His bright grin contrasted greatly with the desolate sight of her home being burnt to the ground. “So, let’s play a game. Choose a hand.”

Annalise kept staring at him, even as he prompted her eagerly.

“Come on now.”

Her expression remained lost as she whispered weakly. “Left.” Maybe if she went along with it, she’d wake up from this nightmare.

“Oh…not what I would’ve gone for.” Silas winced theatrically as he brought out the Vasanitrio Medallion, handing from his hand, fire flickering in its reflection threateningly. Lis’ eyes followed it, and all of a sudden, she remembered why she was there.

She needed that, for Bonnie. Silas was still holding it up in the air, inspecting it closely. “I found this nasty thing in a box warded to hell, planted deep in the basement. Whoever put it there did _not_ want it found, so naturally, I _had_ to have it.”

Annalise reached for it on instinct, and Silas moved it away with a disappointed tut. “No, no, not yours. See, I know your friends, and I know Qetsiyah. She’s gonna want to change Amara as the Anchor now that she’s mortal, so obviously, you volunteered to be her battery.” Silas rolled her eyes, smirk still stuck on his cheeks. “But that won’t work unless your topsy-turvy magic is stabilised. So, my dear, dear friend, I decided I’m gonna do you a favour.”

The cursed medallion shone with heat before it melted in the light of the fire, pooling into bronze in his hand, before dripping to the ground strangely in an anticlimactic manner. The sight of the source of so much of her pain being destroyed should have been therapeutic, but not when she needed it the most. Not when it would have finally meant she was helping people.

Her anger crested. With a furious blast of magic, she sent Silas skidding back driving grooves into the ash covered dirt beneath him. His hands came out to steady himself, and all at once, Annalise’s livid gaze snapped to his right hand.

Silas grinned, looking almost sheepishly at her. “Look at that, you’ve gone and spoiled the surprise for yourself.” He held the indestructible white oak stake in the air proudly. “Funny thing about those wards you had in your room – it needs a room to bind to. Now with the fire…well. You’re a smart cookie, you can connect those dots.” He looked at it before turning back to her in mock disappointment. “Klaus must have felt this was the safest place in the world for it. Hm. Pity you let him down, again.”

Annalise simmered in rage as the fire beside her burned brighter, rising high enough to cast shadows longer than the setting sun. She felt the heat of the flames on her back, and the heat of the sigil shining bright out of her chest.

Silas’ expression dropped as the sky thundered; moments later heavy gales pelted the Earth around her with sleet and hail – the fire steamed with a shrill hiss, and Annalise shook with the weight of her magic in her limbs.

Lis had to focus, and imaging a hand sweeping her hair gently to the side helped. She was in control. Her eyes flew open, burning silver as she raised her hand, clenching it tightly in mid-air.

Silas’ own hand raised to his neck immediately, clawing on nothing as he fell to his knees with a gurgled choke. Her frustration built as even then, Silas’ smirk remained unmoved while he gasped for breath with his hair plastered wetly to his face on the wet and muddy forest floor.

“Oh,” he crooned through breaths, “we both know you don’t have it in you, poppet.”

Lis made to walk closer, but with limbs heavy with holding back the tidal wave of magic she felt coursing through her veins, she lost her concentration, collapsed on her own knees doubled over in a coughing fit. Wet dirt tasted acrid in her throat as Lis hacked up the sludge, groaning as her frail body shook with the effort of keeping everything in.

Her hands clawed at her chest feeling something heavy settle under her sigil as it burned brighter and brighter. As she fought to catch her breath, Lis felt Silas climb to his feet while she struggled to right herself.

Feeling more dirt at the back of her mouth, she spat it out, dry heaving.

The rain didn’t let up, but at least the flames had long died in this icy weather – the house once pristine and modern now looked like a haunted ruin, all blackened and broken.

She managed to catch her breath with a low groan, ignoring the way her chest constricted as though something was obstructing it.

When she stood weakly, wiping at the corner of her mouth, Silas’ previous glee was gone. Now, his expression was serious and sombre in the rain, watching her in the same manner Tess had, while putting the stake into an inner jacket pocket.

“You- I didn’t know it had progressed this much.”

“I thought you’d be revelling in my pain.” Annalise said acidly, gesturing at the house. “That’s what this was for, wasn’t it?”

Silas shook his head slightly looking unsettled and the most serious she’d ever seen him, like those brief glimpses of humanity that made Annalise believe the act that once upon a time Silas had treasured Gaia before he’d become the twisted being he was today.

“It’s no fun when you’re dying, it takes the fun out of it.” Nope. Still soul-sucking monster.

“I’m not.” Lis cut in immediately, defensively. “Tessa’s gonna reverse it. Tonight. After we make Bonnie into the Anchor.”

Silas was suddenly in front of her, grabbing at her intensely. “You can’t let that happen. If she dies, and the Other Side is intact; Amara and I, we would never be reunited.” He desperately held her shoulders, but she shook him off weakly with a scowl.

“It’s happening.” Annalise glowered at him defiantly. “Bonnie’s coming back, and the Other Side is remaining fucking intact, and I swear if you get in my way, I’ll kill you right here right now.” She hissed. “Just try me, _poppet._ ”

Silas faltered, before his gaze burned with new almost desperate intensity. “Oh, that’s what this is about. _Love.”_ He spat. “You don’t know love. You want to save a boy you had a puppy crush on. You knew him for a couple months before he died, and then lo and behold he _kissed_ you while he was a ghost.” He spluttered almost protectively. “ _Use_ that smart little brain of yours. He only kissed you after you admitted to Bonnie that you didn’t want her help bringing him back, after you started second-guessing yourself, healing yourself. Wake _up.”_ Silas tapped her forehead as if he could tap his reasoning into her mind. _“Think about it_. He was making sure you remained his meal ticket to come back to life.”

“You’re wrong.” Lis shook her head, wrenching away from Silas’ grip in denial. She wasn’t a fool to believe the worry she remembered in Kol’s eyes, was she?

Wasn’t a fool to remember the grim set of his lips as he begged her to leave?

What about the kiss, when he’d clutched her close, so close he’d have felt her heart beat hard against her chest as it had soared?

Lis hated that she’d started to doubt it, doubt everything she’d felt – she shook her head, weakly at first, then stronger. “No, he was worried for me. He was worried.”

“He was worried for _himself._ ” Silas shook her by the shoulders once more, frenzied. “Old dogs don’t learn new tricks, especially ones millennia old. Take it from me. We regress the _second_ we feel cornered.”

“No, no you’re wrong.” Annalise shook her herself out of his bruising grip aggressively. “ _Screw you.”_ She turned away, but Silas grabbed her again, squeezing tightly. “I said, let me, fucking _go!”_ Annalise felt her magic kick into overdrive, and something within her _pulled_ defensively.

Silas yelled in pain and fell back as Annalise gasped, eyes flaring as she felt something foreign invade her magic.

Silas stumbled back, but the damage was done.

The tips of his fingers had greyed, similar to her own blackened tips, and Annalise felt the familiar hurt, then soothing rush of dark magic in her veins.

A smirk crawled up her face.

This would do _just_ fine.

“You just gave me the one thing I needed to help Bonnie.” Her heart felt lighter even as she felt the dark magic twist and churn inside her, swallowing back another cough bubbling at the back of her throat as more pressure built up under her sigil. “Thanks.”

Silas’ eyes widened in hopeless comprehension. “Come on, now. Don’t be like that sweetheart.” Annalise grinned, shrugging apathetically. Silas changed tactics. “Fine.” His face transformed into something bitter, something vicious. “You bring Bonnie back, you do this, and I hunt your precious Originals to the ends of the Earth. You can’t use your magic to get back the precious stake without stepping closer to death or wasting the dark magic you sucked from me.” His grin was unsettling, but the more Annalise studied him with clinical indifference, the more his smile seemed to slip away and turn into something heartrendingly frantic. “Witches talk, you know. I’d love to pay the unborn miracle baby a visit.”

She just shook her head firmly, feeling the crackle of the fire burn warmer against her cheek. “I don’t do ultimatums anymore.” Lis felt nearly nothing as loud thunder of a wall collapsing threw dust up in the air. Maybe she was enjoying the Dark magic numbing her too much. “Plus. You might be a witch, but you’ll age, rapidly, you won’t last another week. You’ll die, Silas. And I’ll…I’ll be glad you and all you bring would be over.”

Something in the air changed at her unsympathetic statement, and Silas’s face fell so completely and so utterly defeated, that something broke through her the haze of dark magic’s allure.

Something in nature called out to her.

The sunlight filtering through the clouds felt warmer, focused, glinting off her small opal ring.

That…could work.

Annalise had fought to be good, tried to make decisions that helped people all her life. The dark magic within her said she didn’t have to, that she didn’t owe anyone anything.

But as she watched Silas sink to the muddy ground as the sleet let up into a light drizzle...she didn’t _feel_ victorious.

If you had the knowledge, the opportunity to help someone who you thought was your enemy, would you? Even if you had nothing to gain from it?

Before she’d even consciously realised it, Annalise was sliding her ring off her fingers, keenly feeling its loss as the presence of the foreign darkness grew, throwing it to Silas before she could second-guess herself. He fumbled to catch it, inspecting it before looking up at her in question.

Gritting her teeth, she spoke. “Keep that safe. It’s your plan B – a way to stay with Amara in the mortal afterlife.”

“What do you want me to do with a _ring_?” Silas looked lost, frustrated. “Like you so helpfully pointed out, I’m a _witch_ , sweetheart. I’ll never be able to reach the mortal afterlife.”

Annalise bared her teeth at him in a wide grin. “You’re a smart cookie. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

With that, she turned, walking away slowly from the crumbling pieces of her home.

It was time to get her friend back.

-

It was time to meet the mistress. The one woman Silas thought was worth... _all_ of this.

As Gaia and Silas neared the tent, they saw a figure kneeling at its entrance, seemingly washing their hands in a bronze basin at their feet. Gaia faltered when torchlight flickered brighter, casting Tessa’s face into light. Tessa looked towards them, before looking back down again calmly and continuing to wash her hands.

That…hadn’t been the plan – the plan had been to present Leonidas with the cure and trial Amara and Silas in front of the entire coven for their sins. The sentence would have been dire, yes, so Gaia had planned to steal the couple away in the night and lead them to safety of another coven before dawn had broken without telling Qetsiyah but now…

She exchanged a cautious glance with Silas before taking the lead, approaching the unsettlingly calm woman slowly.

“Qetsiyah, my lady. This wasn’t the plan. I was to capture Silas, and you were to capture Amara.”

“Well,” Qetsiyah smiled innocently as she got to her feet – her eyes were focused on Silas lingering behind Gaia’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t be polite to drag the new couple to the boring court without giving them their gifts first.” The pair watched uncertainly as Qetsiyah drew the ceremonial goblet from her side, covered with a piece of bright red fabric. “The first, is the chalice from which we were to drink at our wedding.”

“Qetsiyah, I know you must be very angry with me. I never meant for this to hurt you-”

“I was, yes.” Qetsiyah raised her hand delicately to stop Silas in his tracks, still smiling serenely. “But then I realised that it was within my power to forgive you. Your betrayal has had a silver lining after all – I realise now that while I fooled myself into thinking you were what I truly wanted, but your betrayal has opened my eyes to my own true love.”

Her eyes caught Gaia’s gently, and her breath caught.

In the dim blue light of the moon, it seemed as though time stopped for Gaia. Tessa smiled at her and Gaia found herself stepping forwards, lost for words save for the wide smile building upon her lips. “Tessa, my love, I feel the same.” She reached for her hands, clutching them closer to her chest as her other hand traced Qetsiyah’s cheek gently. “But do you not think that-”

All of a sudden, Gaia stilled. Her face grew ashen as she stumbled back, smile falling into a horrified scream.

Blood, sticky, slippery and _staining_ covered her hand; the same hand she’d gripped Qetsiyah with. Silas, who had steadied her as she’d fallen back, caught sight of her red-stained hand in the torchlight. He grew rigid behind her, his face uncomprehending of the horror on Gaia’s as Qetsiyah pulled out a smaller box. 

“This is the second gift. The cure for immortality.” The still serene witch pulled out what looked like a small vial from the box. Gaia shook her head – there were supposed to be _two - she gave Tessa two vials of blood-_

“That’s impossible.” Silas stepped out from behind a terror-stricken Gaia, still lost.

“I promise you it works.” Tessa looked at the vial vindictively as she spoke in casual monotone. “I just used it on someone else immortal.”

“No. _No._ ” Gaia felt bile rise up her throat as she watched Qetsiyah’s wicked smile glint sharply as Silas moved into the tent revealing blood-soaked garments and blood spray.

Silas fell to his knees with a keening gut-wrenching sob, gasping loudly.

This had been a _massacre._

Qetsiyah still smiled triumphantly. “She couldn’t speak after I cut her throat.”

Gaia’s flesh crawled sickeningly as her _love,_ reached into the chalice and picked out something _bloody._ “But I could tell by the way her heart was beating…” She squelched the heart tighter in her grip, watching content as the blood dripped through her fingers. “…that Amara knew she was going to die.”

“You are a _monster.”_

Gaia’s nose was red, face blotchy from her tears but her gaze was still strong and unbroken as she looked at the girl she’d fallen in love with in terror and disgust.

“No, no.” Qetsiyah turned to her, and tried to approach her but paused as Gaia tripped backwards in her effort to maintain the distance between them. Tessa looked at her, torn. “Gaia, she- she deserved this. A commoner, thinking she could _ever_ rise above her station, _humiliate me –_ this would have been her punishment.”

“No one deserves _this._ You _butchered her.”_

“As she should have.” Leonidas stepped forwards from behind a grove of trees, distastefully staring down the wild witch still with garlands of flowers decorating her long hair and dirt packed between her toes. “My daughter has made me proud tonight.”

Gaia shook her head despondently, moving past Qetsiyah to put her hand on Silas’ shaking shoulder. “Silas, we need to leave, we need to leave _now."_

He looked hopelessly at her, a broken shell of the man he’d been only moments prior, before anger filled every single crevice left behind in the shattered remains of his heart.

“ _I WILL KILL YOU‼”_ The broken yell of a man echoed through the forest, but Qetsiyah was already holding her hand up in Silas’ direction, now seeming surer of her actions no that her father was by her side.

“No. You will not.” Qestiyah enunciated coldly. “You will not come near me unless you take the cure and give up your immortality.”

“Qetsiyah, _stop.”_ Gaia stepped forwards into the way of her spell, disrupting it with a flick of her wrist. Tessa faltered as she looked into Gaia’s fear-ridden eyes. “Look, you- you killed someone. You cut her he-heart out _of her chest.”_ Leonidas studied how Tessa’s hand lowered slightly, watched as the weight of the words that Gaia spoke to his daughter sunk in. “I don’t know what was running through your mind when you killed her, but I _know you._ You are kind, you are smart, and _loving._ Just _please,”_ Gaia’s voice broke. “If I ever meant _anything_ to you, _please_ don’t hurt him.”

Leonidas’ eyes widened as Qetsiyah’s arm dropped completely, and he saw the love that shone through her eyes and his heart hardened.

This wasn’t right.

This wasn’t natural.

The wild child he’d grudgingly let into his coven had corrupted it, corrupted his darling daughter, and he _needed to end her._

He _roared._

-

Annalise felt the forest reach out to her as she stepped through the foliage steadily. Branches moved out of her way, and ferns along the ground unfurled towards her, outlining a clear path through the dense forest. The bird song somehow sounded…encouraging, and Annalise felt as though she was lost in a fugue state, removed from this plane. It was as if she no longer had control as to when she entered her state of being at one with nature anymore. It felt as if she was…merging, and…it was calming. It soothed her frayed nerves even with the Dark magic running through them viciously.

Her phone rang, pulling her out of her reverie, and all at once, she felt annoyance fill her for breaking her concentration.

“What?” She hissed.

“Lissie.” Nik sounded taken aback before understanding coloured his tone. “Had another run in with dark magic I see. Damon was right to call me.”

Lis clutched at her phone tighter, mouth curling into a scowl. “Damon called you? Why the fuck would he call you?”

“He said you were making questionable decisions, and that he didn’t want me taking out my ire at you at them.” She could hear the smirk in his voice as he spoke, along with the slight worry he hid behind it. “The exact words he used was ‘covering his own ass’.”

“You don’t need to get involved here.” Her tone sharpened. Lis didn’t need his _condescending_ worry. “You’re not my keeper.”

“No, I’m your friend.” Annalise scowled at the forest floor at his answer, kicking a stone as she strode forwards angrily. “And since all my family is irate at me ordering a hunt of the remaining Bayou werewolves as the first point of order of my new reign, I was looking to call you anyway?”

Shit, didn’t Hayley say they were her family? Her anger doubled.

“Why? Need me to _not_ call you an absolute asshole?” Annalise prickled, thinking of the unnecessary lives lost because of Nik’s pathological need for loyalty. “I get that you want your new vampire friends to like you but grow the fuck up – trying to please them isn’t a good way to curry their favour, all it does is shows that you’re their _bitch_.”

“That wasn’t-”

“What? That wasn’t what you expected, Nik? Did you expect me to make you feel better about yet another dumbass mistake that you made? Guess what?” Annalise scowled at the phone. “You done fucked up. Now go make it right.”

“ _Fine_.” Nik seethed. “But I do understand you’re not yourself love, so I’ll be eagerly waiting for your apology for the insensitive delivery of your opinion when I see soon.”

Fucking _shit._ Silas had the white oak stake, and Nik was coming to Mystic Falls – why didn’t anything work out well?!

She had to stop this. But convincing him it was dangerous for him would only increase his desire to come help her.

Her frustration rose, so she used that instead. “No, no, don’t come here. _Unlike you_ , I am fully capable of dealing with my own shit instead of making the same exact _fucking_ mistakes and then complaining about it to other people to make myself feel _fucking_ better.” Nik’s silence deafened her, and doubt crawled up her throat. She hadn’t pushed him too far, had she?

Whatever she’d just done, she’d have to stick to it now, and live with the consequences. She continued acidly. “I just can’t deal with you right now, and I most certainly can’t waste my time babysitting you when I need to get this shit done. I’ll call you later.”

Smashing her thumb against the end call button, she pocketed the phone with a huff. Hopefully she hurt him enough for him to stay the fuck away from this mess.

When Annalise stepped into the busy clearing, she did so angrily. The mud from the recent rain squelched under her feet as she made her way to its centre.

Damon was just setting a tied-up Amara down on the ground next to the tree stump still filled with the mementos that the gang had left behind – though the white feathers had long since scattered across the clearing due to the winds. Elena was next to Damon, looking like she was reassuring her doppelgänger. The doppelgänger looked scared out of her mind, eyes darting away from her mirror-image uncomfortably. Tessa and Jeremy were conversing over a book Tess had placed on the stump – it seemed to be Bonnie’s grimoire, familiar from the long days that the girls spent together plotting to take Silas down.

That now seemed like an eon ago.

In an effort to satiate the anger bubbling under her chest, she looked around to find Stefan, standing at the edge of the clearing, leaning up against a tree. He glared at nothing in an annoyed manner, making Annalise smirk to herself. Now that was a mood she could get behind.

As she approached the tree stump, Amara’s large doe eyes flicked to her, before widening even more in familiarity. “Gaia?”

“Nope.” Lis shook her head once resolutely, before making eye contact with Tessa, ignoring how Amara’s large eyes remained stuck to her face.

Tessa smirked at her. “You have the medallion?”

“No, but I do have dark magic.” Annalise grinned sharply, baring her teeth, making Damon sigh as he straightened.

“Oh, great. Hi psycho Peach.”

“You talk too much.” She glared at him, feeling the need to choke him for the very uncomfortable conversation she just had. “Snitches get fucking stitches, _dick._ ”

“Klaus called I see.” He shrugged, crossing his arms in an unbothered manner. “My bad.”

The wind howled heavily as Annalise narrowed her eyes at the man. He was _asking for it._ Tess’ fingers snapped in front of her eyes, jarring Lis from her murderous thoughts. “We don’t have time for this.” Tessa held her hand out to Annalise over the stump. “Come here.”

Annalise kept glaring at Damon while she placed her hand in Tessa’s, though it flicked to her hand when Tess drew a knife sharply across her palm. Annalise watched, detached, as she saw her blood drip down onto the cover of Bonnie’s grimoire, staining it with a couple drops. Jeremy looked unnerved at Annalise’s lack of reaction, but she merely gave him a singular nod. “Prepare to welcome Bonnie into the land of the living, kid.”

Both Tessa’s hands cupped her bleeding one gently, and shutting her eyes, she began to chant. “ _Ina prahn khos suptheia jhem ao pada khey rasattan. Ina prahn khos suptheia jhem ao pada khey rasattan. Ina prahn khos suptheia jhem ao pada khey rasattan.”_

Annalise felt her magic drain through her hand readily into Qetsiayh’s with little resistance, making her gasp at the pure power high that Lis’ magic tended to bring witches. Tessa's eyes flashed silver, much like when Bonnie's had when the witch had channeled her. Slowly, Lis' gaze fell to where her pooled blood on the grimoire slowly changed shape, turning into a circle, then glowing a bright white.

It sang a single building note, rising in volume as the power of the wind around them also rose, sending the leaves of red and orange flying into the air around them in a flurry, accompanied by the pure white feathers dotted sparsely in the bright foliage. It was a relief to feel her dark magic drain from her, so Annalise relaxed, feeling an expectant smile curve at her lips.

Jeremy returned it eagerly.

Tessa smiled too, then gestured to Amara.

Damon helped the bound woman stand then cut the ropes holding her wrists together. Amara meekly walked to Tessa and offered her hand too – Tessa let go of Lis’s palm, leaving it to freely continue dripping small amounts of blood on to the shining symbol, before vindictively digging the knife into Amara’s palm, tearing into her skin much more aggressively than she did to Lis. Annalise’s flat expression curved downwards into a displeased one at Amara’s silent wince but said nothing as Tess let Amara’s blood drip into the middle of the circle before letting her move back.

The circle shone brighter.

Lightning flashed overhead from the angry clouds that had materialised over them, echoed closely by the cracks and rumbles of thunder.

Lis smiled wider, feeling Bonnie’s energy growing stronger and stronger with each passing moment the more her anger disappeared by the second. “It’s working.” Jeremy seemed to have heard her over the storm, his smile was as bright and as blinding at the light from the symbol. The winds around them blew louder and louder as Annalise felt the magic in the air rise to a lingering crescendo, singing a high tone for a long moment, before finally tapering off and dulling.

The winds reduced back down into a calming breeze, letting the sunshine filter through the moving clouds.

The glow of the circle waned, but Annalise’s eyes were stuck on Bonnie and Jeremy embracing. Elena was laughing, running to her friend happily with a joyous yell, and Damon was smirking victoriously.

Annalise smiled to herself.

It seemed things had a way of working themselves out.

-

“I-I didn’t mean to do it, Tessa, _please you have to believe me-”_

Leonidas lay still, lines of red streaming down his face as his form lay sagged against the tree Gaia had thrown him viciously against.

Silas was breathing deeply at her back, still winded from the torture spell he had jumped in front of on her behalf – the same one their coven elder had screamed at her.

As Silas had lay seizing and screaming in pain, Gaia had pushed a reflexive arm outward in a wave, catapulting Leonidas back until a tree stopped his descent with a resounding _CRACK._ Qetsiyah kneeled at her father’s side, smoothing the hair away from his forehead in worry, before getting back to her feet slowly.

“He isn’t dead.” She looked towards Gaia as if she no longer recognised her when Gaia smiled in exhausted relief. Noting the expression on Tessa’s face however, that expression slowly dropped.

“What’s wrong, my love?”

“You would strike my father? _For him?”_ Qetsiyah’s accusatory tone had taken on a dangerous tint. “He was right. You are all _vermin_ at the end of the day, choosing each other and forsaking those who have the _generosity_ to give you food, and shelter. At the end of the day, you will _always choose him.”_

“What? No, Tessa, you have no right to talk, you just _killed someone!”_

“This is all your fault.” Qetsiyah turned on Silas, eyes wild and unhinged. “All _your fault_! You may not be able to die, but you are the dirt beneath my feet, and you _will suffocate for all eternity.”_

Qetsiyah let loose a torrent of Expression towards Silas – but he no longer stood where he initially had.

Instead, Gaia fell back in his place with a choked shudder.

Qetsiyah watched the woman she claimed to love, fall for the effects of her spell with a quiet sob, tears streaming down her face as Silas screamed in agony and rushed to Gaia’s side, but she couldn’t find it in herself to move. Gaia had _protected_ Silas; been outraged _for_ Amara.

She’d chosen them over her in a heartbeat, no matter how she’d claimed to love Qetsiyah.

“Die, protecting your precious Immortals, then.” Qetsiyah’s whispered words left her body as she stung with betrayal. “You will pay for all their sins.”

-

A cough racked past Annalise’s lips, cutting through the happy laughter, another, then another. She gagged inhaling raggedly as each cough brought up a lungful of foul-tasting dirt. She felt arms helping her, holding her up as each cough burned up her throat. She heard vague yells of anger as she gasped raggedly, feeling relief as the attack subsided.

Bonnie was at her side, arm raised at Qetsiyah threateningly.

“Heal her, _now.”_

Annalise’s vision cleared as she blinked her tears of pain back, settling her dirt-glasses higher on her nose, only to see Qetsiyah’s gaze was locked on her own filled with blistering regret.

Oh.

Movement in the shrubbery next to them thankfully drew everyone’s attention away from Annalise’s falling expression. Her reaction to Silas was lacklustre compared to the rest, who all stiffened up defensively. When she did look at him, her eyes were dull and resigned. Silas’ own eyes looked to her in genuine concern before nodding and passing her a quick quirk of his lips before turning to face Qetsiyah.

A quick glance around the clearing revealed Stefan had disappeared, but her attention was drawn to the front once more as Qetsiyah hauled Amara to her feet, knife raised and pressed threateningly at her delicate neck.

Amara’s eyes were wide with fear as they looked upon Silas’ reassuring ones. Qetsiyah spoke cuttingly. “You’re too late, Silas. It’s already done.”

Silas raised his hands placatingly towards her as he approached. “You’ve had two thousand years to watch us suffer, you’ve had your fun. Why can’t you just let it go?”

Tess’s eyes flashed towards Annalise for a moment. “Maybe it’s because you keep ruining everything.”

“I honestly feel sorry for you.” Silas walked closer, while Bonnie stepped forward slightly, putting both Lis and Jeremy behind her protectively. Annalise watched her fists tighten in preparation to hurl spells at Silas as he continued. “Hateful vengeance is for people without real love.”

“You were the reason my real love was ripped from my grasp!” Tessa tightened her grip on Amara hatefully. “So, I took yours away once, and now, I’m going to do it again.”

“NO!” Silas yelled, lunging forwards as Qetsiyah wrenched the knife across Amara’s delicate neck.

The girl sank to the ground with a gurgle, dead before impact. Bonnie had her hand up but looked lost as Amara died with a shudder on the forest floor.

It appeared her magic wasn’t back.

Annalise immediately found herself pushing the faltering witch behind her, along with Jeremy as Silas threw the only weapon he had – the White Oak stake – at Qetsiyah with an agonised yell.

Everything stilled as Qetsiyah caught it in mid-air effortlessly with her magic while her other hand clenched the air in front of her tightly and pulled, pulling Silas to his knees in front of her with no resistance.

Annalise found herself going to take a step forwards but paused. This wasn’t her fight. Silas looked at her with a slight smile before looking back at Tessa. “I didn’t ruin anything this time, darling. You did that all by your paranoid little self.”

“You don’t know anything.” Qetsiyah hissed.

“Don’t I?” Silas raised an eyebrow mockingly. “Using Cael’s spell for Gaia on _her_. How _utterly_ cruel-”

His words cut off with a singular choke as he shuddered before stilling, falling to the ground, dead.

Stefan stood behind him, eyes dark and hooded, holding a bloody convulsing heart dripping in his hand.

Damon and Elena stepped forwards in an aborted movement of shock, before Damon held Elena back. Stefan shrugged apathetically as he let the heart fall to the ground with a wet plop. “He was talking too much.”

Even Qetsiyah remained silent, gaze stuck on Silas’ dead form as everyone looked at Stefan in various stages of horror. That is, until, a low amused chuckle permeated the clearing.

“Well, looks like I missed all the fun.”

Nik stepped through the foliage, wearing a familiar smirk as he watched Stefan send him a disgusted look. “Glad to see you finally embracing your true nature there, Stefan.”

“He’s not.” Caroline stepped out from behind him, arms crossed defensively as she walked towards Elena. “He killed someone that’s been terrorizing us for practically half of an entire year. He killed Bonnie’s dad, tried to kill my mum. He did everyone a service.”

Yet Stefan still looked away with a grimace, looking at his red-stained hand in a lost manner.

That was the least of her concerns, however.

“Nik.” Annalise stepped forwards with a heavy heart. This makes everything so much harder. “You shouldn’t have come.”

He quirked his dimpled grin at her as he ventured to walk to her side. “And here I thought you knew me well enough to know how incessantly stubborn I could be.” Annalise shook her head vigorously in warning, eyes gesturing subtly to the stake in Tessa’s hand – Nik instantly grew rigid and on guard. 

“So you’re the infamous Tessa.” His eyes narrowed as he studied the still witch with sharp eyes before addressing her loudly in his British drawl. “I believe that belongs to me.”

Qetisiyah said nothing, gaze stuck on Silas’ dead unfurled hand.

The opal of Lis’ ring caught the sunlight defiantly.

Well, not hers. Not anymore, anyway.

Lis knew it no longer held her magic - no, instead, it now held all of Silas'. He had figured it out.

He had created a Remnant – bound all of his magic to the ring and successfully died a mortal death. And now Lis knew Tessa had felt it. Had put two and two together and realised she was to blame.

“No.” Tess whispered brokenly as her gaze darted from it, to Lis, then back to it once more. “No, no, _no!”_

Silas had done it. Taken her advice. Reunited with Amara in the Afterlife. The _mortal_ Afterlife.

As Tessa screamed in fury, Lis wondered detachedly if it was all worth it. Bonnie squeezed her hand, in warning helplessly as the witch turned her manic attention to her.

_“You.”_ Qetsiyah screamed fury. “You helped _him,_ you chose him, _again!_ Why? _Why?”_

“You made my decision for me,” Annalise shrugged, dispassionately realising that all her fear had left her as she continued. “You killed me before you had the chance to really know me.” A slight feeling, and intuition told her…“This happened before, didn’t it?” 

-

Silas was by Gaia’s side in an instant, holding her hand as he wiped away the tears streamed down her face while she convulsed. The dirt around her was starting to sift and sink, dragging her down. Grass and ferns reached out to her with spindly hands, pulling her further in to the damp earth.

“Sister!”

Silas and Qetsiyah whipped around to find Caelesti, staring at her sister with horrified silver eyes as she sunk quickly into the ground. She scrambled to her side, grasping her elder sister’s hand tightly as she smoothed her hair back and tears away. “Dear sister, I shouldn’t have- I shouldn’t have let this happen. You- you can’t leave me, _please-”_

“Cael, she jumped in the way, I-” Qetsiyah’s effort to approach her had Cael standing with a yell and hurling her arm in Tessa’s direction in an arc.

Bright light crackled and sparked from her hand as lightening formed at her fingertips with a loud _crackle and buzz,_ springing towards Qetsiyah angrily as it engulfed the clearing with a bright light.

When it cleared, Silas blinked the light from his eyes, realising dimly that the sky was thundering and low with rain clouds that _weren’t there before._ Qetsiyah too looked around her in stricken awe at the blackened crater by her feet, staring at her assailant dumbly from where she’d fallen. “How…? You are a useless seer.”

Caelesti stood, chiton flapping in the ferocious wind, staring at Qetsiyah with her burning gaze. “Gaia had a way with the Earth, but I have my way with the Heavens. She told everyone otherwise to protect me from being bound to this cursed coven like she was, pretended to bring _my_ rainfall as she healed your crops to ensure _I_ was safe. Bore criticisms from your gossiping town so I wouldn’t have to.”

“No, no I-”

“And now you’ve killed her.” Cael narrowed her eyes hatefully. “You forget, my lady, I see _all._ I know what awaits her now if she dies, your _cursed_ eternity you bound using _her blood.”_

“You can’t stop it. The world I created draws all dead vessels of magic to it. I _cannot_ leave Silas unpunished. Now more than ever.”

“What?” Silas whispered to himself in horror as Cael walked back to Gaia’s side. “You would condemn Gaia to eternal damnation just to ensure I pay for my crime of loving another?”

“She chose _you.”_ Spat Qetsiyah. “The fault here lies with you alone _.”_ The witch, now soaked to the bone in the torrents of cold rain, stilled as she saw Cael reach for her sister, loosening the tie holding her dress slightly. “What are you doing?”

“I’m ensuring my sister’s dream is fulfilled, instead of her trapped in the Other Side you’ve created for all of eternity.” Face grim, she raised her finger to Gaia’s struggling chest, now nearly submerged in dirt and rocks. “Live long, and prosper, dear sister. Return to the Earth you loved. Return to the magic you held dear to your heart. _Take my power,_ _everything I have,_ and live free, my dear sister.” The tip of her finger glowed a golden hue and left behind a trace of the sigil that was now burned into her chest – the sigil of Earth and of the magic occupying it – an upside-down triangle with a line bisecting its lower half.

“May your blood run in rivers, may you rise with the sun,

May your magic with nature overrun,

my sister, _Gaia,_ your time has come.”

Something splintered in the very fabric of nature before light brighter than beacons erupted from the sigil at Gaia’s chest. She heaved a breath in, a breath of fresh air and of damp wind – then plunged all at once into the Earth below her.

-

“What do you mean, _killed?”_ Nik hissed, moving towards Tessa angrily. Tess’s hand clenched tighter around the stake, eyes still stuck on Annalise watching her warily. Nik focused on the movement, stilling.

Tess narrowed her eyes at Lis, promising vengeance, and Annalise felt dread crawl up her spine as she felt Tess’s anger build.

“You’re right.” Qetsiyah turned to face Nik with a sharp grin. “This _does_ belong to you.”

With that, she launched the stake right at Nik’s chest.

There was a loud _whoosh_ and a displacement air –

Annalise stood in front of Nik – silver eyes narrowed in focus as the stake lay floating in mid-air stopped inches from her own chest.

Everyone in the clearing watched with bated breath as Qetsiyah let out a chilling laugh. “Look at _you.”_ Annalise grit her teeth swallowing heavily as the weight on her chest increased the more she pushed against Qetsiyah’s magic driving the Stake closer. Qetsiyah cocked her hip casually.

“I can do this all day, sweetheart. But you? I’d be surprised if you last another minute. Every spell you do has brought you closer to death in the last few days, and even now, you’re using up the last dregs of your sorry little life _.”_

Qetsiyah smirked humourlessly as gasps echoed around the clearing. “What? You didn’t tell them about my parting gift to you? The sigil on your chest pulling you into the ground the more you used magic?”

“Shut up.” Lis clenched her hands tighter in front of her, sweat dripping down her brow as the stake inched forward ever so slightly. “Just stop this. Please.”

“You don’t understand, do you?” Qetsiyah walked to her, looking almost…sad. “You’re _weak,_ now. I’m not. You’ll just die faster if you keep this up.” Annalise’s hatred towards the witch grew, bubbling viciously in her gut.

Annalise felt the ground beneath her begin to tremble, but Qetsiyah seemed to not have noticed it yet. “See, you could have kept out of it, minded your own business and _died quietly_ , but you _had_ to go and ensure Silas’ happy ever after. Now, I find myself with plenty of time, but my mortal enemy dead and gone.” Qetsiyah looked around the clearing with a wicked smile. “So, I’ve decided to terrorise everyone you’ve fought so hard to protect, starting with that brute of a man behind you. _Die,_ for your immortal, little one.”

Annalise’s eyes widened before they set in determination, the beginnings of a smile playing on her face. Nik wasn’t stupid enough to stay in place behind her; in fact, a subtle shift in his signature told her he was bracing to _move_ , so one of her hands reared back in a fist.

The next second was a blur of motion as Lis released her hold on the stake while ducking under it simultaneously; Qetsiyah’s power propelling it without any of Lis’ magic repelling it any longer meant the stake flew just past her ear with the speed of a bullet. Nik had already moved in the instant she had freed it, meaning the stake buried itself with a loud _thunk_ deep in the trunk of the tree behind him.

But Lis was still moving, a scream built in her throat – full of hate and despair that wasn’t completely hers. Power, more power that she’d ever brought forwards coursed through her veins and into her hands as she raised her raised hands. Tessa’s eyes widened as the rumbling beneath her feet grew louder, gaining her attention.

Even as she stumbled back in fear, however, Annalise grit her teeth and _pushed_ her magic towards Qetsiyah in with a yell. "This is for my _sister!!"_

With a heavy rumble and a _CRACK,_ the ground erupted in a fissure heading straight for the witch, with large rocks pushing to the surface in quick razor-like formation. Qetsiyah managed to dodge, scrambling away backwards even as she fired her own spell in retaliation.

“ _Phasmatos Incendia!”_

The ball of flame directed at Bonnie froze metres away from her with a loud crackle for a mere millisecond before Annalise managed to divert and fling it back in Qetsiyah’s direction with a yell – the witch dodged quickly making the fire burn into the woodland behind her with a heated _whoosh._

Qetsiyah scowled as Annalise panted heavily, blinking rapidly when adrenalin made her chest hurt, and vision distort. Lis’ limbs felt like lead now, and there was no mistaking their magnetism to the muddy ground beneath her. Something was pulling her down, _hard,_ and Lis’ knees weakened each second she passed resisting the magic and tried her best to remain standing. Something big felt as though it was lodged deep within her chest, and now there was no mistaking the light shining, no - _burning_ , through her jumper from her sigil.

With a ragged inhale Annalise narrowed her eyes, focusing past the dirt smudging her lenses and realised that Damon, Elena and Stefan had moved Bonnie and Jeremy to the side of the clearing wrecked by magic – Bonnie’s tree stump was still undisturbed though the ground right beside it crumbled and the foliage to it’s side lay burning with a quiet fizzle.

When her locked on Qetsiyah’s own, her eyes widened.

A thin line of blood escaped out of the witch’s mouth with a gurgle, and a shift of a shadow behind her revealed Nik, hand deep through Qetsiyah’s spine. Lis saw the witch raise her hand in one last time as dread filled her to her core – eyes focusing on how the witch's hand was now trained in the direction of the stake lodged in the tree trunk behind where Nik was braced.

The stake shook and shuddered before shooting out backwards straight at Nik’s back. She didn’t have the power to resist Qetsiyah’s magic, _not again - there was nothing she could do-_

White noise filled her ears, louder than the sound of blood rushing through them as she screamed a warning before her surroundings changed.

Her breath choked further as she felt something else, something distinctly foreign and _painful_ lodged deep in her own chest.

“Lissie?” Nik’s voice behind her came weak and whispered – she turned slowly, hands coming up to lethargically stem the blood running warmly from the stake sticking out of her upper chest.

Bonnie screamed in the background - then all of a sudden, she was feeling arms come around her shoulders, bracing her as she sank to the ground, struggling to breathe. Nik’s eyes were wide, flicking between her wound and her face as she coughed up blood collecting in her throat. He grabbed the stake out of her chest, staunching her blood with a shaky hand, betraying his steady voice.

“Heal yourself, now, Lissie.”

She gasped, words stuck, not moving past the phantom stake still in her chest. “She can’t.” Annalise’s eyes drifted to Qetsiyah dying on the ground too as she spoke. “She belongs to the Earth now.”

It was as if she had spoken it into being, the ground shifted under Annalise strangely as it moved under her, around her. Her chest sigil shone a pillar of light straight upwards as she gasped.

Her wide eyes met Nik's one last time, and then, with an abrupt almighty tug, the earth pulled her deep into its bowels.

Magic leached into her and out of her as she felt herself slip into the darkness.

Yes. Worth it.

And so, Annalise Caelis ceased to exist with a smile tugging at her bloodied lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there it is! I hope I didn't disappoint with an explosive end! Most odds and ends tied up here were actually foreshadowed way earlier in the book, hehe, I wonder if you caught them all.   
> The Necromancy tome with the black eye that Katherine's familiar with was actually also a huge Easter egg for what's to come. I wonder if you guys caught on yet.   
> I hope this chapter gave you guys a bit more insight into the past concerning Silas, Qetsiyah and Gaia - I do honestly hope you enjoyed how I managed to tie my OCs in.   
> The epilogue to this story should also be uploaded shortly, think of it like a double update because I kept you all waiting. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and as always, comments are welcome!! :)


	43. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure you come here with questions about Lis' future: I hope to answer them hehe.  
> Here you go!!

Her conscious was vast – it felt as though small strings of energy tugged at her from billions of directions, each connected to something that shone brighter than the majority of mortals that occupied this plane. On some level she now understood what…someone had told her on a visceral level.

 _This_ was what it was to be a deity – the fact that she ever thought she could hold this much power in a mortal body was a laughable fact, and even then…she missed it.

But being a deity was…more. More about the infinite space her consciousness had spread to, the immense power she now occupied; more about what she felt connected to. The supernaturals – any soul that contained a spark of magic that differentiated them from normal humans – burned in what she could describe as her vision. Some burned brighter than others, some dimmer because they existeed…further away, on different planes. It wasn’t painful, nor…annoying. It just _was_ , and she felt…protective.

Though the darkness that embraced her didn’t.

Despite the fact that the entity was comforting, and overwhelmingly all around her, it made it known that caring about the lights was a useless endeavour.

So, they simply observed. She didn’t know how long she watched over these lights move without her influence - her meddling. It felt as though she was removed from it; though she sometimes rose to consciousness when some lights drew power from them and watched detached at how they used it.

Being a deity was about being unequivocally fair – the darkness around her claimed they had no right to interfere with the souls that sometimes crossed over to death.

Had no right to intervene.

She agreed; the more time she spent distanced from her mortal form, the less she her personal connections meant to her – the less she was able to differentiate one light with another. Sure it…. made her feel empty, at times, but it was a small price to pay to merely understand that deities existed to merely… _exist._ The business of mortals was beneath them.

Suspended in this state of apathy, she almost didn’t feel the sudden drain of her magic specifically one day. Almost didn’t realise that her magic was being collected into a faded light – one that was on a more distant plane.

She rose (metaphorically), curious as the echo of unintelligible chanting rose faintly and watched as a coven...died, and then one light then _tore_ through another mercilessly – travelling from one plane to the next. The light it passed through appeared to be a tether of some kind - _an Anchor,_ her conscious supplied.

The Anchor shook, as did the connection between the worlds they held, and all at once, one world – the faded one – started to crumble.

Something _hurt, which wasn’t possible because she was without a physical presence –_ the darkness around her consolidated comfortingly at her rising panic, claiming that this was the natural progress of life, no matter how unnatural it seemed.

But they used her power, drew on _her. Her mortal self._

The Anchor was faltering, and faded lights on the outskirts of the disappearing world blinked rapidly out of existence. Her mind shared the turmoil of the thundering but soundless fall of an entire world, but her companion, the Other claimed this was beneath them.

Her mind caught on a single faded light traversing the dying plane, trying to reach the Anchor – it wasn’t going to make it. It reminded her of someone special – the light felt wholly familiar.

“ _Look,”_ The Other supplied in a shared thought, “ _The Anchor saves lives as we speak. The world will continue without our intervention.”_

The Anchor was just barely holding on to the snapping metaphorical tethers as they spoke, and her sense of urgency rose as the familiar light faltered.

Resolve built in her mind even as the Other tried to lead her back to apathy. “ _It shouldn’t have to.”  
  
_

Now she was focusing more, she realised that the Anchor was surrounded by more familiar lights – some faded, some not. But the Anchor itself was dying, spending herself for the sake of the others.

Something within her told her that she couldn’t let that happen.

She could reach them, save them. Protect them.

She stretched rigidly, unnaturally, feeling as if she was stepping through a thick, slimy conscious that willed her to stay where she was. Her companion wasn’t letting her leave easily.

Pushing back, she reached for the lights desperately. They couldn’t flicker, she wouldn’t let them. Her companion was resisting.

The energy surrounding her tugged her back with a million hands, but she fought them. It was hard, pulling them to _her - to her Earth_ , but one lone light, different from the rest pointed to another plane.  
  


A plane where the veil between worlds was weaker, less resistive to her – one that the Other had much less control over.

So she _pulled._ She ripped free.

She felt strange.

Waking was an unnatural affair, considering she had been resting for what felt like millennia.

Her limbs felt stiff, unnatural and out of place as she collected herself.

The Earth beneath her shook in anger at her leaving, but she gave it little thought as she let her feet stumble forwards, towards the lights she’d plucked out of danger.

Nothing around her felt remotely familiar, apart from _them._

Stumbling through the dense woods around her, bright light filtered through the thick green foliage and the more time she spent walking, the more her senses felt assaulted by all the different sights and smells.

A high-pitched ringing sounded in her ears as the wind blew one way and shrill birdsong pierced the air.

There. The lights were in front of her.

Focusing her all her mind of putting one foot – _she had feet now, how weird were they? –_ in front of the other, she stumbled into a clearing.

A man and a woman – no, a girl, faced her. The girl's mouth fell into an ‘o’ as her eyes snapped to her ragged appearance in disbelief, sweeping short strands of dark hair away from her brown skin. The man seemed winded as he studied her; a relieved smirk playing slightly at his lips as his piercing blue eyes contrasted sharply against the dark leather jacket he wore.

Wait, the third light.

Another man, he stood beside her. She turned towards him slowly, gaze travelling from his defensive posture aimed at the pair in front of them, then his face when he turned; her own stare connected with a dark eyes that she _knew were a golden amber up close._

He stepped towards her, unsurely, as if he was afraid she’d just disappear. If she was being honest, she was afraid of the exact same thing.

A wide smile crinkled her eyes as she found herself letting out a chuckle at their shared disbelief.

“Hey stranger.”

**~ The End ~**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was scared of wandering away from canon when I first started - so this next book is gonna be my try at being more...adventurous.  
> So yes - hehe - I just trapped Lis, Kol, Bonnie and Damon in Kai's Prison World. 
> 
> Chaos will ensue. I hope y'all are ready for it :)


	44. Second Book Posted!

Quick little Author's Note: 

The second book in my series - Ad Lucem: The Primera Pluma - is posted and first chapter done!! 

Just letting you know hehe. 

Love you all, xoxo

Bees.


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